Simon Moorhouse of Invisible City

The devil is in the detail for W10-based creative director Simon Moorhouse. Lydia Williams talks to him about his passion for bespoke design

Above: Simon Moorhouse. Photo by Elizabeth Hartnol

‘We called it Invisible City because it’s all about potential – the designs that are yet to come and our excitement about that prospect,’ explains Simon Moorhouse, over coffee at Westbourne Studios, his second-home for 11 years. He is describing his design practise, Invisible City, that he has built up here since his graduation from the Architect’s Association, in Bloomsbury.

‘We’ve done so many things’ he replies when asked to name some recent projects, ‘the public likes to pigeon-hole you as either an architect or an interior designer but Invisible City is a design studio and we have many disciplines. So, we design houses and architecture but we’re just as at ease designing furniture,’ Simon continues.

As we talk I begin to understand the merits of such a holistic set-up. Why engage the experiences of an architect, interior designer and product designer independently, when you can go to one studio and invest in one conceived idea that will, by its nature, create cohesion and interaction between its elements?

‘Invisible City is about a passion for design and we don’t want to have to draw a line anywhere, design runs all the way through our lives, it is encompassed in all that we do,’ he enthuses. It is this passion for design that has made a successful brand of Invisible City, with 25 projects in 11 years the company has been run off its feet for more than a decade. To what does he attribute this success?

‘A strong relationship with the client’ he says, ‘that’s really important. So many practises bowl in and steamroller the client: we want them to be part of the process. I think great design shouldn’t parody people’s desires but articulate them. We do a bit of hand-holding: raising your house to the ground is a terrifying prospect for anyone,’ he laughs, knowingly.

This intuitive link between the studio and its clients seems to have paid off. Simon continues, ‘I’ve just revisited a client from five years ago who wants us to do their next house. We’ve got a few relationships where we’re on their third house. For another client in Notting Hill, we designed a contemporary piece of furniture for them as a one-off bespoke design and ended up redesigning their 10-bed chalet in Courcheval,’ Simon shrugs as if such a loyal following is easily achieved. On the contrary, it is his integrity and devotion to delivering slicker and cleverer versions of his clients’ visions that keeps them coming back.

When I try to pin Simon down to sum up the Invisible City style, he seems uncomfortable,‘We love the old stuff and the new stuff, I’m as happy standing in a quarry in Italy choosing the next cut of stone as I am rummaging on Portobello market, or as I am designing our own furniture. Bringing the tradition and contemporary together, that’s when it gets exciting. Our clients’ needs determine the Invisible City style, we just facilitate them.’

As we talk, Simon’s pace and gestures intensify as he describes his current project on Ladbroke Grove, I have come to learn over the space of a cappuccino that this is a signal to his passion for the topic, ‘By day there is this wall that appears to be a traditional wall, but it’s actually sand-blasted white glass, colour matched to the other plain white walls. We have put in low-level lighting so at night when the lighting behind the panels creeps up the walls, everything starts to become silhouetted, the space is constantly changing, every hour of the day. It’s about a passion for design and we embrace that at every level. It’s all about the detail.That’s us, that’s what we do,’ he gesticulates wildly.

Two hours in and I am mesmerised. Seduced by Simon’s scrupulously high standards for every facet of design, I immediately want my home to be ‘Invisible City-ed’. Yet I cannot help but wonder how all these luxe fixtures and extensive renovations fit in to our responsibilities towards ‘greener living’.

How eco-aware are Simon and his team when they are designing? ‘It has to start at a studio level. It is where we can control the impact we make, you’re examining every label – where has it come from? My wife runs a charity about carbon footprints so I’m becoming more and more aware everyday of my life!’

‘I’ll be interested to see how the whole eco-thing affects the luxury market, and how we can affect it!’ he continues, ‘Let’s see what we can do, we’re very excited about 2008.’

The morning continues with Simon vividly describing projects from the last decade, I cannot help but be impressed that Simon can look back to houses he designed five years ago, and still describe with the same passion, the origins of each material he used. To this end he recalls a certain memorable material he used with his trademark gusto, ‘We flocked a chandelier years ago, pre-Paul Smith. In fact I bought the chandelier on the Golborne Road, dismantled the 150 components and took it to the flockers. There’s only one flocker left in London, they’re great at restoring anything I take them actually, I found this old French scooter recently and they’re going to look at it for me…’

‘To flock?’ I asked in amazement.

‘No, but that’s not a bad idea you know…’

Simon’s mind is off again, mulling over the concept. So don’t be too surprised if you see a flocked scooter whizzing down Portobello soon.

www.invisiblecity.co.uk; 0845 224 5028

SIMON’S CITY

…on the Grove
‘I like walking out of my studio and seeing the use of the space under the Westway, like Baysixty6, the skate park. I don’t want to be predictable but Trellick Tower, it’s the punctuation at the end of the Golborne Road.’

…on his favourite haunts
‘All the usuals: The Cow; Hereford Road (above); the Market – on Fridays you probably won’t find me in the office for the whole day, it’s too tempting. All the snacking and eating experiences along the Golborne Road, that’s the best.’

…on London Life
‘My background? I’m a local. I’ve lived in London all my life, my parents still have a house in Holland Park. I went to New York for a while then I came back here 11 years ago, I came back because I was home-sick, and particularly home-sick for this part of London, and the people that live here. I am an Englishman through and through.’