Christopher Jenner presents new design project on Regent Street, crafting English architectural heritage to eccentric effect, that sits jauntily within the Beaux Arts style for which the street is famous.
At times societies break away from their obsessive ambitions, giving way to the pursuit of pleasure. With the British Empire at its height and the change of command at Buckingham Palace, the dictated and constrained moral values of Victorian England surrendered to a pre-war period of discovery, eccentricity and joviality.
‘The last vestiges of their old connections were now thrown aside, and they emerged in all the splendor of their new-born glory’ — Charles Stuart and A.J. Park The Variety Stage (1895)
In the arts the Aesthetic movement expressed a committed support of aesthetic values over socio-political thinking, renouncing projected dictation and favouring values of ‘beauty’.
The project is an assembly of these values created via a collection of pattern, form and texture in a synthesis of traditional English handcraft and high-tech manufacturing. Styled as a symbiosis of the classic and contemporary, the design investigates a thoroughly current fusion of classic Edwardian splendor and Japanese Manga. Jenner’s strategic and lateral approach to the design is revealed through the sole use of brand iconography as informant, layered via materials and textures, emphasising his signature pointillist style.
Giant padded walls, punctured by sticky chamfered light boxes, draw the eye into a kaleidoscope of heritage; ceiling roses inspired by Westminster Abbey introduce a Tudor fretwork ceiling from which glossy Brighton Pavilion Onion Dome chandeliers are suspended. Extensive marquetry paneling and handmade furniture in white Oak, gloss and laser-cut solid Brass, surround a candy-stick maze table with bow stools, all of which sit upon a bespoke patterned encaustic cement tile floor.
This project is the next chapter for the Studio, establishing its success in the world of ‘sensation design’ and demonstrating its strategic, creative technique in exploring the relationship between brands, emotion, luxury and craft.
