The Mirror & The Light

This london townhouse glows with understated glamour thanks to a wealth of brass details and antique reflective surfaces

- Catherine Coyle

Bryan O’Sullivan has just been announced as Elle Décor’s Interior Designer of the Year. It’s a well-deserved accolade for the 38-year-old, who took the plunge and set up his own studio just five years ago. He had previously honed his ability to visualise, plan and dress a space with flair through working with some of the best names in the business (the likes of David Collins, Martin Brudnizki, Annabelle Selldorf and Luis Laplace), and this, combined with his multi-disciplinary approach, early years in the hospitality industry and training in architecture, has given him a confident, eye-catching style that has brought both commercial and private residential commissions.

Recent projects include a Paris townhouse, an alpine chalet, a New York apartment and an Irish castle-turned-hotel. Each has been designed to bring out the strength of the building’s architecture, something that is also apparent in this London home. It belongs to a longstanding client for whom the studio has worked on no fewer than seven properties. And while this close connection and familiarity was incredibly useful, the tall, narrow house itself gave O’Sullivan and his team something of a headache.

The varying ceiling heights changed the amount of light that could get in and the compact rooms required inventive layouts, yet the building’s Grade II-listed status put restrictions on what was possible. The latter also obliged the studio to meticulously recreate accurate period features that had been stripped out by a previous developer. On top of all that, the client requested some green space in this citycentre location.