Brothers Michael and Alex Christou set the bar high when designing the apartment they share in central London. As co-founders of luxury property development and interior design company 1.61 London they wanted somewhere that could showcase their talents, and set about transforming a two bed, two bathroom flat in a former commercial building into a contemporary three bedroom, three bathroom home.
The en-suite bathroom for the master bedroom is ultra-smart in every sense of the word. Walls and floors are clad in marble, the vanity unit is mirrored from floor to ceiling and the room is fitted with a rain shower and jet system. But it’s the elements you cant see that give it another dimension – the state of the art technology including dimmable LEd lighting, a TV concealed at the end of the bath and a Sonos sound system.
‘The room was already a bathroom but we wanted to extend it to give us additional space’ says Michael. At more than three metres high the arched ceiling is taller than average and the two arched niches provide symmetry – one houses the waterproof TV that becomes a mirror when its not in use. It’s connected to Apple TV and Sky. ‘The TV and music system can be controlled by our smartphones or tablets and via a voice command to Amazons Alexa’ explains Michael.
A glass enclosure in one corner is fitted with a rain shower and jet system by Grohe and includes a built in seat. ‘There is nothing better than sitting in the shower with music all around me’ Michael adds.
The lighting is another area where the latest technology comes into play: the brightness can be adjusted at the touch of a button or by voice command. ‘LED lighting is amazing, as it’s low energy, doesn’t heat up and is dimmable. We fitted a Rako smart lighting system that is easy to operate and install, is controlled via an app and wasn’t too expensive’ says Michael. ‘You can programme seven or eight different settings for a range of levels to suit everything from shaving to relaxing.’ Even the Trojan whirpool bath includes integrated coloured lighting, which produces a variety of effects.
Its technology that makes the room a joy to use. ‘it really does make life easier as it’s so fast. Even if you don’t like the idea of controlling the lighting or operating the TV from a phone or tablet, you can place a switch by the door and control everything from there.’
