Joining us alongside Bill Amberg as part of the Decorex Seminar Programme, we caught up with Sally to delve into her thoughts on this year’s show theme – the Future of Luxury.

Can you tell us a little about your role and your involvement with the luxury interior design market?  

Im an architect working across a wide range of sectors including high-end residential, art galleries and museum exhibitions and also retail stores for global luxury brands.  With the launch of Studio Mackereth we have deliberately widened the parameters of what we do. Our past success in the discipline of architecture allows us to explore and enjoy the design of other things, such as our own range of furniture and even jewellery.

Is this wider design reach the future for Studio Mackereth?

The main focus of the studio is still rooted in architectural projects with a clear emphasis on the seamless connection between the details that shape the architecture and the inherent design and mood of the interior spaces formed within.

How do you approach the interior design side of the business?

We don't have a formulaic approach to interiors so there is no 'look', but consistent to all projects is a delight in the use of high quality materials to produce elegant details that are sublime, tactile and often playfully executed with an underlying respect for pushing the boundaries of craftsmanship and making.  

How do you ensure that each project brings this sense of ‘delight’?

There’s a certain alchemy to designing inspiring interiors - needless to say a great deal of effort goes into creating great spaces that look effortlessly stylish. I’m a firm believer that inspiration is all around us - an interior designers job is to be a visionary - part sculptor, film director, magician, curator.

What are your thoughts on the meaning of ‘Luxury’?

'Luxury' is such a tiresomely over-used tag that has lost its original meaning – it’s a now lazy adjective not to be trusted as a result. In terms of interior design it is regularly used to market property to imply expensive and rare materials and where comfort and contemporary design intersect harmoniously to add credibility, culture and social standing to the buyer.  

How is the digital revolution effecting the luxury interiors market?

Sites like Remodelista and Pinterest enable people to travel the world and create their own virtual  interiors and experiences but this is limiting as its its a 2D experience.  To enter the real world of a jewellery store such as one of the stores we designed for renowned jeweller Solange Azagury-Partridge is an extraordinary journey of the senses - sight sound smell even the walls are tactile.  Nothing can replace the thrill of the human experience of these theatrical  experiences carefully choreographed to embody the message of these luxury brands.

Which products or designers have recently inspired you to think about the future of luxury?

I recently visited Eileen Gray's 1929 radical modernist experiment a modest but intensely thoughtful house E1027 in Cap Martin in the bay overlooking Monaco with 'luxury' yachts traversing the Mediterranean.  It really got me thinking.

Sum up your vision of the Future of Luxury using only 5 words and one image

5 key words worth exploring when talking about "luxury" for the future are : Time, Rare, Considered, Sublime, Humility.

‘Neolithic’, the bar for Wallpaper* Handmade at Salone del Mobile 2015, by Studio Mackereth, Jack Badger and Royal Salute, constructed of ancient 8000 year-old oak.