Magna Carta Park, UK
Louise Bradley reveals new show home for Magna Carta Park, taking inspiration from its historic British woodland setting.
Magna Carta Park from Royalton Residences has revealed its luxurious new show home, Belvoir, a four-bedroom, three-en-suite bathroom townhouse in the heart of its 57-acre private estate, due to be completed later this year. The show home has been designed by interior designer Louise Bradley and epitomises luxury, understated elegance and countryside-calm; befitting of its woodland setting and classically English style.
The focal point of Belvoir is its living space, which maximises natural light and maintains the feeling of being close to nature. The kitchen-dining room sits on the raised ground floor, overlooking the rest of the development with large bay, sash-windows while staying connected to the contemporary kitchen featuring hand-thrown ceramic lights and drop-lit pendants. Many of the materials in this space gives a nod to natural resources from wicker baskets, reclaimed wood console tables, to parchment-paper pressed flowers hung in frames on the dining room wall.
Adding to the social and relaxed ambience of the show home, the living room draws on textures and tones reminiscent of the British seasons. While in the master bedroom, comfort and relaxation are the watch-words for Bradley’s design. Quartz bedside lamps with silk shades sit either side of the studded headboard, while antique framed botanical artwork creates a soothing and tranquil place to restore and recharge. The adjoining dressing room uses intimate floor lamps to further create an atmosphere of peacefulness.
“The inspiration behind the show home is Magna Carta Park’s exceptional rural setting – the grounds of the private estate have a number of protected, ancient trees such as oak, yew, beech, willow and scots pine, so that was a natural starting point for the tones and textures of the interior,” says Bradley. “My intention was to ensure that residents felt like the British woodland was part of their everyday life, both inside their home and when enjoying the extensive grounds.
“When it came to the decorative lighting for the apartments, we had the freedom to work with some of the latest pieces from our collection – these designs are created by our in-house product design team and manufactured by expert craftspeople across Europe. We used pieces that worked in particular spaces – whether that’s statement glass chandeliers such as the Alicia chandelier from our own collection or the classic Venezia chandelier. These pieces work perfectly in the main living spaces and drawing rooms, attracting the eye and making a statement.
“Decorative lighting plays multiple roles in the project. Firstly, it had to functionally light the space in line with the residents’ lifestyles. Secondly, the lighting chosen had to create the right ambience for the rooms – decorative lighting such as chandeliers, pendants, lamps and picture lights all have an important role to play in the ambience of any interior; scale is important too and working correctly within space’s proportions.”
Having worked with John Cullen Lighting on the lighting design for both the marketing suite and across all of the properties, for Bradley, light always needs to be considered at the start of a project – especially natural light. “Lighting shapes the interiors and any natural light of course changes throughout the day,” she tells darc. “This is why it is crucial to consider in the early stages of the project all of the aspects of the lighting design – lighting enhances not only architectural elements of our designs, such as bespoke joinery or a beautiful staircase, but it is also used to complement the unique finishes and soft furnishings used within a project, from the artwork through to the final layer of accessories.
“We’re very fortunate to have worked on beautiful private residences across the globe for nearly 30 years now and have over the years built acute understanding and deep intuition when it comes to translating our ideas into concepts and final designs. We’re very happy with how the initial ideas turned into complete designs in Magna Carta Park.”
