Discussing Design with Katharine Pooley

Meet Katharine Pooley

ceo and founder, Katharine Pooley Ltd.

Katharine Pooley, ceo and founder of Katharine Pooley Ltd., is the recipient of numerous high-profile British and international awards. Established more than 15 years ago, her Knightsbridge studio comprising 47 interior designers and architects creates landmark luxury commercial and residential projects in London and around the world for the most discerning clients. Katharine’s highly personal approach of immersing herself in every detail in her clients’ complex projects has resulted in a loyal international fan base. Her aesthetic is very much client-driven, and she prides herself on being a complete design chameleon.

Katharine also has a standalone retail boutique in South Kensington that, as well as her website katharinepooley.com, showcases a range of curated accessories sourced from around the globe.

How are lifestyle changes influencing the way products are designed?

Nowadays it’s all about timing, materials and costs. We really want to design our own bespoke products for clients rather than just buying things off the shelf. We want to create something that’s very special. Many of our clients are high-net-worth individuals who are looking for unique items – although we’re also still buying a lot of antiques. It’s lovely to mix a bit of new with a bit of old.

The new generation wants cleaner living spaces. They’re not that into clutter or, ironically, antiques. It depends on the generation and the age of the client. In the Middle East, for example, they’re looking for items that are dust-free, so they don’t want pieces designed with shadow gaps that cause them to have to clean all the time. Some people have been quite fussy about glass and frames, some are saying they don’t want polished chrome and others want bronze because it requires less cleaning. It’s all because we have less time nowadays and more stress than ever before. People are looking for an easier, more balanced life.

How is the luxury market changing?

Luxury is very different for many different people. For me, time is a luxury because I never seem to have it. For those who have so much wealth and so many assets, luxury is all about layers: wanting something bespoke that no one else has got and that is so unique, it can’t be bought for anyone else. To be honest, I don’t know if that’s a good or bad thing. I think it’s far better to take the approach that less is more, but that’s just my opinion.

We’re talking more than ever about the economy and the climate. I do an awful lot of international work. For example, in Hong Kong, there were the riots, and now the coronavirus, and then in Australia, the flooding, it’s one drama after another. What I would love to look at this year is trying to encourage our clients to be happy with what we’ve got. But also, to think about the environment and maybe not using shagreen, not using rosewood, and trying to protect the Earth as we can. I was recently asked at a conference how we ship products for our overseas projects. Well, it’s absolutely right everything can go by boat, which helps the environment. But at the same time, maybe there are things we can choose locally. I really do believe in quality, and in Britain we’re very blessed to have the best, so it’s important to get it right the first time. I’m very into the ethos of the environment and preserving the world.

Is more always more? How do you balance patterns and materials to avoid visual overload?

For my clients, there’s no such thing as overload. They want more and more and more, whether it’s a trim on a lampshade or whether it’s a different material within the pleats, or whether it’s three trims on curtains. It’s amazing, they just want that attention to detail. One of my favourite designers is Kit Kemp, who has the most amazing ability to add huge amounts of different fabrics and materials. Look at Martin Brudnizki’s design of Annabel’s private members club – you can’t get more fabrics in one room, can you? There is a way to make it work. But is it sustainable and is it liveable? That’s only a matter of personal choice.

More and more, my clients say they’d rather trust my opinion. If I think something is too much, I have no qualms about being honest with them. We’ve had times when clients say, “No, I’m going to have it,”, but then really hate it. So, we have to be careful. But look, interior design is about fun, isn’t it? It’s always enjoyable to be able to have some play areas and some that are calmer. It’s also about trying to find the calmness for one’s life.

Where do you find your treasures? Do you have a network of scouts who keep an eye out for quirky pieces?

I’m always travelling, always on the go and on the lookout for different things. I feel very blessed. I do go back to the same people, but I also try new things. Nowadays, it’s so hard to find unique things because clients have access to all the shows like Maison et Objet. So, it’s quite important to try and find unique things. For two really big projects we’re doing now, I’ll give my sources carte blanche to find something and then if I don’t like it, they’ll go off and find other things. They’re always sending me fabrics and I’ll say what I like or don’t like, and then that’s how we reach agreement with a client. Some clients don’t care about, and some really do. It depends on the clients themselves.

We end up designing a lot of our own stuff, which gives us an advantage and also helps us deal with the issue of copying that is quite a big concern now.

What inspires you both professionally and personally?

Travel, without a doubt, inspires me professionally. I’m very blessed to get to travel and have always been inspired by different cultures. I grew up in the Middle East when my mother and stepfather were posted to Bahrain. I feel very comfortable living and working in the Middle East and have an office there. I also lived in Hong Kong for 16 years and am very into the Asian life and ethos. I feel very blessed to have a multi-cultured background that enables me to understand different cultures.

Personally, because I’m so in love with so many different designs and styles, I’m always wanting something like that in my house and end up with a complete museum of my projects. For example, I loved a panel by Palestrina, a division of Turnont & Gifnon, it’s amazing. My husband keeps saying to me. “Oh my god, what now?” All I’ve learned inspires me personally.

Katharine is one of the prestigious experts invited to join the extraordinary jury for the SBID Product Design Awards, alongside other renowned professionals across industrial and interior design, brand development, architecture, educational research and forward-thinking enterprise.

Click here to view the full judging panel.