URBAN PENTHOUSE

Full of light and open space, the home of interior designers Marie Soliman and Albin Berglund is fabulously feel-good

Statement pieces and cityscape views vie for attention in Marie Soliman and Albin Berglund’s loft home

KITCHEN

Marie is a master of flexible design: art can be hung from a track above the units, while the dining table top slides off to reveal felt for billiards. Artwork, Marie Soliman. Bespoke dining/pool table, Luxury Pool Tables for Bergman Interiors

LIVING AREA

A striking painting by Marie teamed with a sublime Pierre Paulin 1970s armchair creates a chilled area in which to relax.

Pacha lounge Pierre Paulin for Gubi at The Conran Shop; reupholstered in Yarn Collective velvet. Artwork, Marie Soliman

LIVING AREA

‘We love the height of the space – eight metres in places,’ says Marie. A statement pendant suspended from the beams illuminates both this area and the floor below. Tim pendant light, Bomma. Stag side table, Rick Owens. Table lamp, Kelly Wearstler

when the weather is good, Marie Soliman heads up to her rooftop space for a morning workout, where she can stretch and twist while taking in 360-degree views across London. But, she says, making the trip up there isn’t always necessary. ‘To be honest, this home is so flooded with light that it feels as if you’re open to the sky all year round,’ she explains.

Marie, her partner Albin Berglund, and Marie’s daughter Emma, aged nine, live in a penthouse apartment in a converted brewery in west London. For the couple, who run interior design studio Bergman Interiors together, the location was a bonus. ‘Lofts come up more often in east London, which historically had more factories, so this place felt like a rare opportunity,’ says Marie. She immediately loved its open-plan levels, crisscrossed by metal beams and bolt-studded joists. ‘It has the dynamic of a loft space with very few internal walls and we wanted to embrace its industrial past. There was never any question of disguising those elements,’ says Marie. The clanky metal staircase is all part of the aesthetic – even with Brockman the Dobermann in the house. ‘When he runs down it, he sounds like a horse in full gallop!’ Marie jokes.

Family life is lived in the open and without dividing walls. ‘We have our home gym in one corner of our large living space, and our en suite is only screened off from the dressing area and bedroom by a fabric curtain,’ says Marie. That sense of openness is aided by expanses of metalframed glazing, meaning that sunrise, sunset and every nuanced version of natural light in between are part and parcel of life here.

For Marie, this also brings a softer side in the apartment’s character to the fore. ‘Up here, you can watch blue skies gently fade into the peachy pinks of the golden hour,’ she says. Then there’s the birdsong: ‘The sounds of waterfowl on the river drift up to us and parakeets visit in the mornings.’

Marie is particularly attuned to the effects of natural light because, as well as being an interior designer, she is also an artist and several of her pieces hang in their home. The couple are also keen collectors, with work by Michèle Lamy, Rick Owens, Heather Day and Megan Doyle on display. ‘A lot of our art complements the way the natural light flows in here, but in an abstract way,’ Marie explains. Even Emma gets in on the art act, with a mini KAWS figure beside her bed. ‘I’m a firm believer that art should be enjoyed on a day-to-day basis,’ adds Marie.

The open-plan layout of this home also encouraged Marie to come up with f lexible design ideas. ‘There are many ways you can tailor a large space so that it works for your lifestyle,’ she says. A case in point is the bespoke dining table, which turns into a billiards table after hours. ‘Once everyone has finished eating at a dinner party, we can clear the table, slide the top off and have fun,’ says Marie.

Then there’s her smart solution to kitchen cabinets. With no walls to screen the space off, the couple wanted it to feel like a bar area. To emphasise this ‘unkitcheney’ mood, artwork can be displayed against the panels that slide over the storage. ‘We suspended a slim metal rail above the cabinets to hang art from, almost like an update of the Victorian picture rail,’ says Marie. It’s a design trick she has also used in clients’ homes. ‘If people want to hide the TV, an artwork can be hung over it.’

This loft space is a home of two halves: gritty industrial on the one hand and light and ethereal on the other. But, for Marie, contrasts bring a design to life. ‘You need layers of interest in a space,’ she says. ‘A lbin is more into monochrome minimalism and I love texture and vibrance, so we’ve found ways to merge our two design languages. It’s like gin and tonic – you can’t have one without the other…’

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LIVING AREA

The apartment’s metal beams are perfect for a hanging chair. Vintage Japanese hanging chair, The Furniture Cave. Stool, Galvin Brothers

EMMA’S BEDROOM

A palette of gentle pastels takes the edge off the metal frame.

Rug, French Connection Home. Porcelain balloon wall light,

Scandiborn. KAWS x Medicom Toy Companion figure (on table), available at Artsy

MASTER BEDROOM

Mirrored wardrobes make the most of the light in this former rooftop office, which has spectacular views across the city – like the rooftop spot (above) does.

Bed linen, H&M Home. For a similar bedside table, try Maisons du Monde’s Indies