In this series, we ask Imagination talent all about the experiences that have made them who they are. This month we spoke to Kevin Berry, Design Director – Virgile+Partners from our London studio.
A bit about me…
Full time Interior Architect. Lifelong Artist with many creative habits.
I have had an on again off again relationship with Store Street since 2008. In that time I have never worked on the Ford account nor had a desk in the basement.
I like riding motorbikes fast. At the time I opted for a bike course instead of an accelerated freefall one. Looking back I wish I’d done it the other way around. The bike, however, has turned out to be far more practical for day-to-day commuting through London – though that’s debatable on some days!
I have had work commissioned, published and exhibited, painted many walls and canvases, hand made books, owned and subsequently sold several motorbikes and these days I sometimes build watches from scratch.
The creative experience that has influenced me the most…
Harrods, Knightsbridge – Ground Floor Accessories Rooms (2019-2023). A four-year, multi-phase project with a hefty budget to upgrade and enhance the department store’s most commercially important rooms. It began at Door no.6, the highest footfall entrance into the store, and ran through to Door no.8 and up to Entrance 5. Being in the role of Lead Architect meant I was responsible for all stages of the design process, from concept ideation, through to technical detailing, to coordinating multiple external consultant disciplines, and to ensuring it was constructed and delivered to expected standards and regulations with A LOT of problem solving in between.
The Jewel in the Crown was an application for the listed and highly contentious Egyptian halls to be removed and replaced with brand new replica Edwardian inspired rooms, harking back to the original grandeur of the spaces. We had complete creative control to design the ceilings from scratch, working with a specialist trade & craftsmen using historic moulds. After studying archive photos and files, one of the rooms had originally been the Greengrocer, so I introduced fruit bowls in the beam case designs, and added grapes to the corner mitres. In another I added small shields and a knight’s head as a nod to Knightsbridge. In the final room, I had some fun crowning the lions heads… “My crowning glory” to a long and arduous, yet very rewarding job that was delivered throughout the pandemic.
Hidden within these ceilings are modern lighting, air handling and life safety systems, along with miles of new cables. An architect’s ceiling! The original ceilings in adjacent rooms are around 140+ years old. So hopefully some of my work will still be standing for generations to come.
Other project objectives were to align all the internal walkways parallel to Brompton road, and to replace escalators that had reached the end of their 30 year service life. Creating clearer circulation, improving visibility, and increasing footfall through the rooms to drive revenue.
Lots of structural work was undertaken as we worked through the phases. There were some very questionable site discoveries too, left behind by previous generations. Literally the upper floors in one room were being held up by a single brick! We all had a good (nervous) laugh about that one at the time. As a result, the steelwork that went in ended up being so spectacularly over-engineered that I can say with some confidence those rooms will withstand Armageddon. Thankfully, you can’t see any of it – which means we’ve done our job well.
I had to sit through two years of weekly escalator coordination calls, before they eventually travelled by barge across from Germany, and then lorry to Brompton road, which was shut down at further considerable cost. Under the darkness of one January night, the bomb proof shopfront glazing was removed and they were lifted through. A dry run was conducted two weeks prior. With the main contractor practising removal of the glazing to iron out any issues that could delay the job. Once on site everything was back on my shoulders, with no room for error. This is when I had to ensure I’d been awake during the previous two years, and that all the design data I had been working with and coordinating to was accurately assessed and had been fed to site correctly…In the end we fell foul of building regs. By 10mm (1cm). Due to a minor alignment issue post install, the balustrade had 10mm too much clearance on one side to be compliant. Which then meant I had 24 hours to come up with a permanent and viable solution.
Screenshot
Screenshot
My industry hero is…
Ewald Damen
The piece of work I’m most proud of…
Harrods, Knightsbridge – Ground Floor Accessories Rooms (2019-2023). Projects like this don’t come around often, so I’m immensely proud to have left my mark on such an iconic British institution. The running joke is, if you spend enough time studying the ornate plasterwork you might just find my face discreetly staring back at you…Arguably my greatest contribution!
The piece of work that makes me cringe…
Many, for a plethora of reasons. However I’ll go back to the portfolio I threw together for my student placement interview. I had cold called a random number of Studios at the end of one week, to my surprise at about 4pm on a Friday afternoon a Creative Director picked up the phone, and for some reason entertained my rambling pitch. He was curt, borderline peeved, asking if I could come in for an interview first thing Monday morning. I said yes, but had nothing prepared. Cue a Friday all nighter, into Saturday and Sunday. I recently found it on an old hard drive. Less is more could not be more of a truism! However I got the gig. And ended up doing my placement at a small studio in Chelsea. He clearly saw through the visual noise, and gave me what would be my leg up into the industry. Working hard on all aspects of your game will get you far. That was my take away.
The experience I wish I had created…
The professional answer: Gucci Cosmos (2023)
The hedonistic answer: Boiler Room (2010)
Advice to my 18-year-old self…
Fear is temporary. Regret is permanent.
What’s next?
Continue to be the best and most inspiring father I can be, try to find the time to get my Skydiving licence… And hope that another heritage job of Harrods magnitude lands. I’ll no doubt buy another motorbike or two plus build a watch or three somewhere in between!
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