British GQ - 09.2019

PRIVATE VIEW

With a successful background in property development, The Malins Design Studio brings a

panoramic vision to interior design, as businesswoman of the year Lauren Atkins explains

GOLDEN

OPPORTUNITY

These sleek interiors

are enriched by warm

metallic accents –

from a side light to

seagulls to sculptural

eggs – adding a

touch of pizzazz.

Below: Lauren Atkins

INTERIORS BY DAVID MEREWETHER; PORTRAIT BY ZAC FRACKELTON

Talking about interiors in her home county

of Surrey, Lauren Atkins is forthright. Even

in that most exclusive of private estates,

St George’s Hill, ‘you look at five different

houses and they can all be styled in the same

way. And when a design is over-replicated, it

quickly ends up looking dated.’

She speaks with an authority that comes

from being a successful boutique residential

developer for over a decade. Managing director

of The Malins Group, she specialises in creating

highly individual schemes from buildings

with a storied past. In Covent Garden, she

transformed offices in the Edwardian Tavistock

building into stunning flats, and turned the

Beatles’ Grade II-listed headquarters in Baker

Street into the Apple Apartments. Whether it

was a former metalworks in Clapham Old

Town, or Wandsworth’s period-rich Book

House, these meticulously restored and

imaginatively converted schemes had just one

thing in common: they all sold out quickly at

record prices.

Several purchasers were so struck by the

show homes’ high quality they commissioned

Malins to tackle their interior design. Jamie

Gunning, a partner at Sq. One Real Estate,

knows why: ‘Lauren and her team have an

instinctive talent for reconfiguring space while

creating beautiful interiors – understated,

clever, yet with real impact.’ The design studio

has now launched, offering its broad skill set

to private clients. Unlike many companies

that are focused simply on furnishings and

furniture, Malins, with all its experience as a

developer, offers a ‘much broader spectrum of

services’, from navigating the planning process

and architectural remodelling to design

consultancy and supply of all hard and soft

finishes. As well as technical drawings and

plans, Lauren supplies high-quality CGI

visuals of the end result – ‘the best in the

business’, she reckons.

With her new business partner, Sarah

Gibbon, a former Olswang and Heron

International prime property and interiors

expert, she believes that the ‘really diverse

end-to-end proposition’ her team offers will

appeal to high net worth individuals in

Surrey and beyond. With Brexit looming

and punitive stamp-duty rates affecting

property sales, they are looking to transform

their homes, adding tangible value, rather

than face an uncertain market. The design

studio’s intrinsic understanding of its clients’

lifestyle, bespoke solutions and little black

book of the best craftsmen mean that a home

of real distinction is created – polished and

immaculately stylish.

For further information, please visit

malinsgroup.co.uk, call +44 (0) 1932 356043

or email [email protected]

PROPERTY | PROMOTION

09-19MalinPROMO.indd 3 17/06/2019 09:34