Seminar Speaker Profiles

As an Architectural & Interior Design Practice, John Minshaw Designs has been designing and building private residences for over 30 years. His pared-back classical interiors combine precious antiques with a twenty-first century mood.

A former winner of Designer of the Year at the Design & Decoration Award, John has recently had a book published by Frances Lincoln, which covers ten projects, spanning twenty years.
A graduate of Camberwell School of Art, where he was taught by Frank Auerbach and Lucie Rie, amongst others, he turned from ceramics to making furniture. His break into interior design came in 1988 when the house he and his wife rescued from dereliction was published and work flowed from this article.

Roger Thomas is executive vice president design for Wynn Design and Development. He created the interiors of Wynn Las Vegas and Encore at Wynn Las Vegas, which opened  in December 2008. He led the interior design of Wynn Macau, which opened to the public September 5, 2006, and directed the design of Encore Macau which opened April 2010.

Mr. Thomas was senior vice president and director of interior design for Atlandia Design, a wholly owned subsidiary of Mirage Resorts Incorporated, and the principal of Thomas Design Group, an operating unit with Atlandia.

For 20 years, Thomas Design Group designed the interiors of the company's many properties, including the Golden Nugget hotels in Las Vegas and Laughlin, and the most important properties on the Las Vegas Strip—Mirage Resort, Treasure Island and the world-famous Bellagio Resort.

While a recognized leader in interior design for the hospitality industry, Mr. Thomas also designed corporate offices and aircraft interiors for Mirage Resorts Inc., as well as the private residences of Mr. and Mrs. Stephen A. Wynn, then chairman of Mirage Resorts.

The Roger Thomas Collection includes signature designs of mirrors for APF Master Framemakers, furniture for Edward Ferrell + Lewis Mittman, The Natural Carpet Company, green sustainable lighting for Niedermaier and outdoor furnishings for Veneman.

New collections for 2010 include Fromental wall cover, Rocky Mountain Hardware, Boyd Lighting, Townsend Leather and Samuel and Sons passementerie.

In 2007 and again in 2010, Mr. Thomas was listed in Architectural Digest’s AD 100

 

Tim Gosling graduated from the Central School of Art & Design in 1987 with a BA (Hons.) degree in Theatre Design. Tim joined David Linley shortly after, becoming a director in 1993. At Linley he was instrumental in developing the company’s design style and expanding their bespoke business over 18 years.

In 2005 Tim set up his own company, Gosling, giving him the freedom to design a wider range of furniture while continuing his working relationships with interior designers worldwide. Gosling creates anything from a single, unique piece of furniture to an entire interior design scheme, tailored to each individual client's exact specifications.

The company’s objective is to create a bespoke service of design and furniture that has style and longevity. Each commission begins with the very intimate process of working with the client to ensure the designs reflect their needs and taste. Every piece of furniture is made to the most exacting of standards using the finest materials and traditional cabinet making techniques.

With his designs showcased at Le Caprice at the Pierre Hotel (New York), Cecconi’s West Hollywood (Lost Angeles), Dean Street Townhouse (London), Soho Beach House (Miami) and the Waldorf Astoria (Berlin), Martin Brudnizki has become one of the most sought-after interior designers.

While his trademark ‘minimalism deluxe’ design lends itself perfectly to such high-voltage glamour locations, back home in London Brudnizki has applied the same philosophy to an entirely different concept: affordable local restaurants (Jamie’s Italian) and a neighborhood food emporium (Recipease) courtesy of chef Jamie Oliver. Also in London, Brudnizki continues his association with the ever-expanding Soho House empire, designing Dean Street Townhouse, a restaurant set to open in November 2009. Brudnizki is also in the midst of redesigning a classic British establishment: The Rib Room at Jumeirah Carlton Tower, set to open in September 2010.

Other Martin Brudnizki Design Studio projects include The Club at the Ivy (London), The Villa Kennedy (Frankfurt), St Pancras Grand (London), Corrigan’s Mayfair (London), J Sheekey Oyster Bar (London), and several private residences around the world.

For more information, visit www.mbds.net

Victoria Redshaw is the M.D of Scarlet Opus, a company dedicated to providing Trend Forecasting, Design & Business Development services. Her work with Designers, Manufacturers and Retailers in the Interiors sector has informed and inspired leaps forward in the product design and profits of many client companies.

Victoria is the Industry Specialist Lecturer of Trend Forecasting at The University of Huddersfield in the UK and she tutors final year BSc, MSc and BA Degree students. 

She writes trend articles for a number of trade journals, magazines and newspapers including regular features for ‘Furniture News’ & ‘Tile UK’ in the UK and ‘Commercial Interior Design’, ‘Gulf Interiors’ & ‘Middle East Interiors’ in the UAE. 

Victoria previously held roles as Design Manager and Design Director with home products and textile manufacturers and in these capacities worked to develop product ranges with high street retailers.      
                                               

She continues to lead the multi-disciplinary Scarlet Opus team which includes Trend Researchers, Product Designers, Business Developers and Interior Designers and regularly contributes to postings on the popular Scarlet Opus trend blog www.trendsblog.co.uk

Shelley Pond joined Scarlet Opus as our lead Interior Designer and was promoted to the position of Creative Director in 2010. She is responsible for the trend forecasting projects of multi-national and national retailers including Carpetright.  Shelley also manages all Scarlet Opus client accounts and projects in the Middle East including exhibitions, PR, awards and seminars.

Shelley is jointly responsible for forecasting the main seasonal Scarlet Opus design & color trends which includes the creation of trend boards and trend reports. In 2010 Shelley initiated the first national Scarlet Opus Star Award (to be presented at Decorex). In addition to her for forecasting and design work Shelley also manages the popular Scarlet Opus blog and regularly contributes postings: www.trendsblog.co.uk

British kitchen designer Johnny Grey was born in London and raised on a farm in the Sussex Downs in England. Johnny was later educated at the London Architectural Association School of Architecture. After graduating, he set up a design studio and furniture workshop and also pursued a brief career as an antique dealer.

In the early 1980s, while working with British kitchen manufacturer Smallbone of Devizes, he pioneered the "Unfitted Kitchen," resulting in a new freedom and creativity for designing kitchens, bedrooms, and bathrooms without built-in rigidity of continuous counters and wall based units which led to the creation of Johnny Grey Studios.

Johnny has authored and contributed to several volumes on kitchen and home design.

His global speaking engagements have included a design tour of Canada, Australia and New Zealand to discuss "Sociability and Sanctuary" of kitchen design. In 2008, Johnny won the Simon Taylor Award for lifetime achievement in the kitchen industry.

Rufus Greenway is the CEDIA Marketing Chair and a Director of London-based integration company, Sound Environment.

The Custom Electronic Design & Installation Association is an organisation of experienced companies involved in the design and installation of electronic systems for the home. Custom design and installation, the process by which your home electronics are integrated into one coherent system, is the cutting edge of a rapidly growing field and is only recently becoming more widely known outside the consumer-electronics industry. Amongst consumers there is a growing awareness of CEDIA, a not-for-profit trade association, which was founded in the USA in 1989. To administer its continuously expanding international membership, CEDIA now has administration offices in the UK & Australia.

Class is an international organization with a global network of three expertly staffed showrooms based in Milan, London and New York. CLASS works to help create new opportunities, drive sales and provide focused communication for commercially available eco-textiles, yarns, processes, finished products and services. There is a comprehensive materials library in each showroom, available for businesses, designers and buyers.

CLASS connects materials producers with designers and retailers, clarifying what’s available in the marketplace, where to find it and making the search for eco-friendly materials for fashion, lifestyle and home even easier.

 

Lloyd Princeton is a business consultant and motivational speaker devoted to the interior design and architecture industry. For 10 years, he has been dedicated to the needs of design professionals and their suppliers, providing solutions to industry-wide problems and inspiration to thousands of professionals!

After a decade in the industry, he now focuses on brokering projects throughout the world, from commercial and hospitality, to residential, marine and aviation, connecting the end-user with ideally suited architects and interior designers.

Lloyd is a frequent speaker in North America and has lectured internationally for major corporations, governments, developers, manufacturers, and trade associations. His first book on Marketing Interior Design was recently published by Allworth Press in New York.

Nina Campbell is one of the world’s most respected and influential interior designers. Her list of clients and design expertise is unparalleled. Renowned for her contagious wit and brilliant sense of personal style, her designs appeal to both young and old and sit well in both contemporary and traditional interiors.

Further developing her business, Nina opened a showroom and design studio on Walton Street in London’s Knightsbridge, in 1984, where she continued her fabric printing and branched out into other decorative areas. In 1990, Nina launched the first of what was to become biannual fabric, wallpaper and trimming collections internationally distributed by Osborne & Little.

The interior design side of the business continued to flourish with notable projects including The Savoy Lobby (with David Linley), The Hotel Parc Victor Hugo in Paris, The Groucho Club in London and The Campbell Apartment Bar at Grand Central Station, New York, amongst other global private residential projects.

The Nina Campbell line continued to expand with a line of bespoke furniture, which launched in 2000, a collaboration with Britannia on a collection of range cookers featuring her fabric designs, a fashion range with Ted Baker, a rug collection in association Stark Carpets and home ranges comprising table linen, china and glassware, home fragrance, branded gift wrap, cashmere throws and travel accessories.

Her latest range of furniture launched at Decorex in London in September 2009 and features a range of upholstered furniture, as well as bamboo and metal pieces, developed in conjunction with Francis Russell, all of which have been designed and produced in the UK, using British manufacturers.

Current projects include large residential projects in China and Jordan, as well as a hotel in England.

Angus Gibson, who founded Gibson Music in 1985, was a pioneer in the audio visual industry when the design and installation of specialist audio, visual, telecom and cinema systems did not exist in the late 70's, early 80's.

With 25 years experience working with architects, building companies, lighting designers and technology design, Angus started his early career working with many leading interior designers including Mary Fox Linton, David Hicks, Nina Campbell, David Mlinaric and John Stefanidis who employed him to wire their client's houses for music and television.

Angus sold the business in 2004 and recently joined Symm, the well known Oxford based building firm. He is currently working on some fabulous private homes in the UK and overseas as well as opening their new offices in London. 

 

Lulu Lytle studied Egyptology at University College London before working for an antique dealer. In 1997 she co-founded Soane to address the demand for architecturally inspired bespoke furniture, lighting and artefacts. They named their company after their 18th century English architectural hero, Sir John Soane.

Alongside the company’s permanent collection and one-off pieces, Soane also works on whole interior design projects. Recent projects have included a boardroom for Bentley Motors, the foyer for a glamorous and contemporary apartment block and furniture and lighting for hotels and restaurants.

Lulu has a catholic design aesthetic, with wide ranging passions from Primitive Art and Classical Antiquities to textiles and Ottoman architecture, particularly loving the animal-like tension of a really good piece of furniture, most clearly seen in exuberant Irish Rococo tables and chairs. Soane’s designs are invariably boldly-scaled and all are made in Britain.

David Linley is known both as Chairman of luxury British brand LINLEY and world leading auction house Christie’s UK. His passion for collecting and designing was nurtured from childhood.

David Linley founded his furniture design company David Linley & Co in 1985. It has now become known simply as LINLEY. The first collection he launched commercially was unveiled at Christie’s, King Street in 1985.  Some 24 years later the LINLEY brand is going strong, and David Linley remains its Chairman. David Linley has achieved international renown for the designs and products which his company produces. 

Over the years, LINLEY has built up both a national and international presence with a quarter of its customer base from overseas. Bespoke commissions have ranged from individual domestic pieces such as dining tables, games tables and jewellery boxes to entire interior design projects including private residences such as an apartment within Norman Foster’s Chesa Futura building in St Moritz. Commercial projects have included suites at Claridge’s and the Kempinski Baltschug in Moscow, the complete refurbishment of the restaurant at The Goring Hotel and also the Sloane Club Restaurant in London.

Global Color Research creates its own colour trend predictions two years ahead of season, with the collaboration of industry colour specialists from all over the world. The consequent trends are made accessible in Mix Publications which includes Mix Trends colour forecast book and Mix magazine. Both titles are dedicated to bringing you accurate colour trends for the design industry.

Over the years, the impact of colour in the design world has provided Global Color Research with the potential to develop its services and products across many sectors and markets. Its inspiring solutions help companies to achieve a better market position than their competitors by creating a more directional offering for their client base.

 

Steven is a qualified architect and interior designer with 20 years post-graduate experience in the leisure, hospitality, retail, residential, and exhibition sectors in the UK and internationally. Steven was based at Conran & Partners for 10 years and as a project team leader saw a number of the practice’s key interior projects through at all stages, from concept to implementation.

Since leaving Conran & Partners he has been at a variety of practices in senior positions and leading creative teams. As well as his position at KLC, Steven is undertaking freelance design projects. In parallel with design, he writes and records music for film, television and advertising.

 

Kate’s specialist field is the conservation of listed interiors and her company, KAWDesign, helps owners of listed buildings to make changes which conserve and enhance the special character of their buildings, are compliant with current planning laws and are acceptable to local planning authorities.  Kate also helps owners make sustainable choices for their buildings, improving the energy efficiency and comfort levels of their homes.

Kate has developed the necessary skills and knowledge over 30 years’ experience in the interior design profession, first with Charles Hammond Design Services and latterly with her own company, KAWDesign.   Previous work includes private residential property, hotel refurbishment, corporate headquarters and institutional buildings, many in listed buildings.  Kate has also designed her own low energy extension to her 1840s terrace house in London which was completed in 2008.

 

*Andrew Martin International Interior Designer of the Year 2010* Martyn Lawrence Bullard is an illustrious and multiple award winning interior designer known for his glamorous and worldly interiors for high profile and celebrity clientele that ranges from Rock Stars to Royalty.

His global visionary point-of-view of making homes luxurious sanctuaries has made him an arbiter of taste whose larger than life client list includes Cher, Sir Elton John and David Furnish, Christina Aguilera, Eva Mendes, Ellen Pompeo, Kid Rock, Sharon and Ozzie Osbourne and Tamara Mellon, founder and President of Jimmy Choo.

In addition, he has worked extensively on commercial projects including Colony Palms Hotel Group, executive suites for both Paramount and Warner Bros Studios, the Beverly Hills luxury emporium, Shizue and restaurant projects including the Purple Palm and Five Feet. Currently, he is working internationally on a diversity of projects which include America’s first Green LEED certified estate in Malibu for the acclaimed actor/producer Keenen Ivory Wayans, a 12th century castle restoration in Umbria, the Jimmy Choo corporate headquarters in London and a 40,000 square foot beach front estate in Mexico

Cadline Ltd., established in 1991, is a CAD solution developer and supplier, delivering innovative and market-focused solutions through our superior team of dedicated people, who are committed to meeting our customers' expectations.
 

The UK company CadLine Network Ltd. was established in 2009 and started the distribution of ARCHLine.XP in the UK that time. The Managing Director of the company is Ms. Erika Harosi.

 

ARCHLine.XP Architectural and Interior Design software The flagship product,ARCHLine.XP is the CAD software for architects and interior designers. Also, the company focuses on trainings in designer schools offering the software with online training materials free of charge. ARCHLine.XP Interior is a high-end 2D/3D application developed specially for space planners and interior designers. ARCHLine.XP Interior is capable of managing multi storey floor plan with dynamic architectural elements and simultaneously 3D modelling, elevations, complete technical documentation to scale, quantity take-off, perspectives, lighting, texturing, rendering, and animation in a professional manner. It follows the workflow of Interior designers.

 

CZWG Architects LLPis a London-based practice with an international reputation for bold and imaginative architecture. The prolific output of built work covers a broad spectrum of development and building types, including residential, schools, offices and hotels, and ranges in size from large scale urban regeneration projects to the individual house and exhibition design, many of which have won awards. Clients in both public and private sectors have come to value its ability to gain challenging planning permissions in difficult circumstances.

Rob Cullen RIBA
As Project Architect, Rob has recently seen the completion of Waterman’s Place, Granary Wharf in Leeds, a 14 storey building containing 122 flats and 890 sqm of commercial space. The building has recently been shortlisted for a number of prestigious awards.
 

Over the past eight years, Rob has worked on several other projects including: VizioN7, a 500 unit residential development for Arsenal Football Club; The East India Dock Road Masterplan in Tower Hamlets; The King Alfred Site, Brighton, including proposals for a new sports centre, residential development, a winter garden and retail; The Almeida Centre, Islington in preparing an application for the conversion of the former Royal Mail Buildings to the west of upper street into a mixed use scheme comprising of 10,000 sqm of commercial space, 262 residential units and the conservation of a listed post office building adjacent to Upper Street.

Rob is currently working on a number of residential projects in London including Laboratory Square and Cleveland Street.

Indira Akibo-Betts, Graduate from KLC School of Design

 

Marc Bonnet originally studied philosophy and literature, before trying out a variety of different activities (including fashion, literature, collecting English cars, and archaeology), until a chance meeting plunged him, to his delight, into the world of furniture decoration and distribution.

From 1998 to 2004, Marc took charge of the development of Moissonnier, the traditional furniture manufacturer, turning it into a first-rate international designer of classical luxury furniture.  This was achieved through participating in various international trade shows as well as opening showrooms in Paris and across the world.
 

In 2005, when Marc was approached by Gaetan d’Hôtel to market and develop a new furniture and seating collection named Collection Pierre, which was designed by John Hutton, the adventure and the challenge seemed too good to miss.
 

With the added participation of Jean-Louis Deniot, this trio – all taste and elegance – will go far in creating luxury and exceptional furniture a la Francaise.  Jean-Louis Deniot comes up with the recipes, Gaetan d’Hôtel is in the kitchen and Marc Bonnet is waiting tables!
 

More than a Cordiale Entente….

 

Jean-Louis Deniot, the interior designer, was born in 1974 and graduated from the Camondo School in 2000, before going on to launch his own design studio, the success of which made him one of the top interior designers worldwide. Jean-Louis Deniot has eclectic tastes in design, as he draws inspiration from a wide range of designers.

He admires Adolph Loos “for his meticulousness”, Dorothy Draper “for the theatrical approach in her staging”, Renzo Mongiardino “for the collector spirit”, François Catroux for “the understanding of quality” and Peter Marino for “luxury in the fashion sense”. While these designers represent the whole spectrum of design, they all share the same spirit: architecturally decorated worlds, refinement, and a love of noble materials and objects.

While he is able to deliver designs in a contemporary style or in the manner of David Hicks, Deniot’s inclination is towards the neo-classical, but “purified to the standards of a Jean-Michel Frank”. Such meticulousness helps him highlight the locale’s architecture, which is his priority, and create a formal setting that often includes major names from 20th century design. Deniot’s creations mirror his personal style: elegant, meticulous, and rich in references to the past.

His designs reflect his quest for balance, which often depends upon symmetry: “I like it to be intelligible.”

 

In her position as Creative Director with London-based NH Design, Colette van den Thillart is the key complement to founder Nicky Haslam. She is uniquely positioned to build on Haslam’s aesthetic and transcend popular trends to express a confident maturity of taste and mastery of scale on a global level.

Colette van den Thillart moved to London in 2000 after obtaining an AAS Interior Design degree from The International Academy of Design in Toronto and completed a Masters of Art Degree in Decorative Arts at London’s Wallace Collection. Further, she is an alumni of the Attingham Trust. In 2003 van den Thillart met Nicky Haslam and the synergy was immediate. Under their joint guidance, NH Design has taken great strides into modern design, mixing the deeply serious, grand and impressive with charm and wit, reinforcing what has become known as the NH Design aesthetic. And this aesthetic has secured clients in the English countryside and London, Toronto, New York, Montreal, Morocco, New Orleans, Denmark, Curacao, Barbados, St Jean Cap Ferrat and Monaco and Moscow.