Inside the Roksanda Ilinčić-designed Gasholders penthouse: top fashion designer adds dramatic style to iconic King's Cross apartment

Fashion designers are adding bold, edgy style the interiors of some of the capital's most striking new developments, with Roksanda Ilinčić the latest big name to add her signature colour blocking combinations and textures to a penthouse at The Gasholders in King's Cross.
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Aneira Davies9 July 2019

A favourite with royals and A-list celebrities, London-based fashion designer Roksanda Ilinčić has dressed some of the most famous and powerful women across the globe - and now has lent her signature style to the interior of a luxurious home within one of London's most striking new developments.

The Penthouse is one of nine exclusive flats at the top of three historic King’s Cross gasholders, now converted to hold 145 homes within their cast-iron framework. The dramatic interiors of this top-spec home blend Ilinčić’s unique sculptural work with different textures and unusual colour combinations.

Best known for her use of colour blocking, geometric patterns and feminine shapes, Ilinčić is the founder of fashion label ROKSANDA and a regular at London Fashion Week. Design Museum and V&A exhibitions have also showcased her work.

The Duchess of Cambridge has worn a number of ROKSANDA dresses more than once, while former US First Lady Michelle Obama wore the designer's creations during her recent Becoming book tour. Ilinčić has also dressed A-list actresses Anne Hathaway, Cate Blanchett and Emily Blunt and singers Rita Ora and Lady Gaga.

Ilinčić personally created a one-off look for the three-bedroom home. A previous resident of Kings Cross, she says the "iconic" and "beautiful" Gasholders always captured her attention.

Artwork by established and emerging designers feature in the flat
Michael Sinclair

"Architecture, art and design are disciplines which consistently inspire my own collections," she says. "This project has created the opportunity to expand my own ideas about creating a true reflection of my own aesthetic, beyond fashion.”

Key artistic pieces on display include murals and artwork by Paris-based artist Caroline Denervaud and furniture by Lina Bo Bardi and Charlotte Perriand, as well as textiles by Kvadrat and Lena Rewell.

The designer also mixes mid-century pieces such as Pierre Jeanneret chairs from the Fifties with modern lighting pieces by Francois Châtain.

Set over three floors, the apartment's entrance hallway leads to a large open-plan living/dining room with a balcony overlooking King’s Cross and Coal Drops Yard. There is also a spacious kitchen on this floor, with a bold statement mural, plus a bathroom.

A floor below, you'll find a master living space leading out to a second balcony and further doors leading to the master bedroom and en suite bathroom. A further two bedrooms and two bathrooms complete the living space on this level.

The third floor is dedicated to a roof garden with far-reaching views of the London skyline. Designed by Suzanne Wallgren, this space features concrete stools cast from moulds based on paper bags.

Gasholders London is made up of one-, two- and three-bedroom flats in new concrete buildings that sit within the “triplet” of Grade II-listed Victorian gasholder guide frames. Communal amenities include a central courtyard linking the three cylinders, plus a luxury spa, screening room, bar, gym and private dining room. There is also a residents lobby, conference room and business lounge, as well as an atrium walkway and an elevated walkway a floor above.

Each penthouse has its own roof terrace, with a further communal roof garden created by Dan Pearson Studio, the landscape architect and RHS Chelsea Flower Show Gold winner. Other apartments feature balconies with full-height triple-glazed sliding doors.

The Penthouse is for sale through Knight Frank, fully furnished for £7.75 million, or unfurnished for £7.5 million.

The Architects Collection Television Centre apartments

Other top creatives to have styled luxury apartments include fashion designer Bella Freud and interior designer Fran Hickman, who both designed apartments in the former BBC headquarters in White City.

Television Centre, where favourites including Blue Peter and Doctor Who were filmed for generations, reopened as a residential-led mixed-use development last spring, following a three-year transformation.

Take a tour of the newly revamped Television Centre, White City

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Bella Freud & Retrouvius, Helios 710

British fashion designer Bella Freud, daughter of painter Lucian and granddaughter of psychoanalyst Sigmund, has splashed her trademark cool-girl chic over three-bedroom penthouse, Helios 710, designed by Piercy & Company.

This 2,300sq ft apartment sits over two floors, offering views of the London skyline beyond the refurbished Helios statue in the Television Centre courtyard. On the market for £3,825,000, it comes fully furnished and is ready to buy now.

Design duo: Maria Speake (left) and Bella Freud teamed up to design these interiors
Michael Sinclair

Created in collaboration with Maria Speake, co-founder of design and salvage mecca Retrouvius, the bold interiors echo spaces close to Bella's heart.

Fans of her boho west London style will notice that many of the furnishings share cultural references familiar from her rock'n'roll-inspired fashion.

The punchy colour, eclecticism and glamour of the Seventies have been a heavy influence, with emerald green, lipstick red and marigold used on the floor and walls to striking effect.

Artworks include photographs from Lorena Lohr, sexy and subversive plates by Eliza Hopewell and op art prints by Jacob Wolff.

Retro appeal: green, red and marigold dominate the Seventies-style colour palette
Michael Sinclair

Special-edition rugs inspired by Bella's “1970” jumper – a favourite of Kate Moss – and made by The Rug Company are used both as carpets and wall hangings. Everything is available to order.

Bella and Maria have reimagined this apartment as a sanctuary for the designer and her family, teaming private spaces with social areas, including a cosy snug on the upper level.

The layouts are flexible, ready to adapt to changing needs.

"It was great to work in a place with so much history – that has been so entwined with my life and my interests – and to imagine how I would live there," says Bella.

Buy your own: these Eliza Hopewell plates are available to order
Michael Sinclair

Fran Hickman, Television Centre

Having worked in-house at Soho House before launching her own design studio, it’s no surprise that Fran Hickman was asked to design a one-off flat in the same building as the members club’s latest opening.

The three-bedroom apartment features Hickman’s signature glamorous aesthetic with velvets, modish animal prints and rich aubergine, pink, turquoise and green all featured.

Silk panels by luxury wallpaper and fashion designer Anna Glover are another unique touch.

A butterfly throw on the living room sofa is reminiscent of Hickman’s work at Chess Club in Mayfair: butterflies adorn the walls of the members club.

The Television Centre apartment designed by Fran Hickman features her signature glamorous aesthetic with velvets, modish animal prints and rich aubergine, pink, turquoise and green all featured (Annabel Elston)

Daughter of property developer John Hickman, Fran designed the interiors of Benedict Cumberbatch’s family home; Gwyneth Paltrow’s Westbourne Grove Goop store and Emilia Wickstead’s Sloane Street shop.

“AHMM architects have designed a home with generous entertaining in mind and one that fully embraces the exceptional views of London,” says Hickman.

The unfurnished flat is priced at £4 million. Interior design by Fran Hickman costs an additional £150,000.

Developer Stanhope bought Television Centre from the BBC for £200 million in 2012. The scheme is at the heart of an £8 billion 10-year regeneration of the wider White City area, which will create a buzzing new hub of activity, creativity and academia in west London.

New shops, restaurants and educational facilities will join 4,000 new homes and over two million square feet of office space, creating 20,000 jobs.

The Architects' Series apartments cost from £2.4 million to £8 million. For more details, call the Television Centre Sales Suite on 020 8811 8720.