True blues

David Collins designs some of the world's snazziest restaurants, often in blue – a colour that reminds him of his Dublin childhood, he tells JANE MCDONNELL

DAVID COLLINS, architect and designer, was brought up in a house by the sea and dates his love of blue back to his pale blue bedroom in that house in Glenageary. It’s a palette that appears often in his impressive portfolio of commercial work for which he is justifiably famed: the high-profile Blue Bar at the Berkeley Hotel being just one example; Nobu, Locanda Locatelli, the Wolseley in London; L’Acajou in Sandy Lane, Barbados; the Bassoon bar and Massimo restaurants in London are others and he has undertaken many private projects worldwide. The Marble City Bar and the Set theatre in Kilkenny are two Irish projects that have attracted attention.

He first had the opportunity to design a space for himself when, having lived in a conventional two-bedroom apartment in London, he managed to acquire the apartment upstairs, linking the two with a floating staircase and completely remodelling to create a one-bedroom, three-reception room space. Not perhaps the wisest investment, but a reflection of how he wanted to live. Completed in the 1990s, its transformation has stood the test of time.

According to Collins, residential projects are like haute couture, allowing him to experiment with fabrics and finishes that might be too complex or expensive to achieve in restaurants or hotels. It also allows the working of ideas on a manageable platform before he releases them to be used on a grander scale.

The sophisticated blue walls in the drawing room, made of canvas panels with cracked gesso on a copper leaf base, are reminiscent of the Blue Bar; the convex mirror on the stairs was used at Locanda Locatelli. Shades of blue and lavender work beautifully with the tobacco brown leather sofas he designed. But the living space is not a showcase: with acoustics in mind, the walls of the music room are upholstered in silk and, intimate and luxurious, the dining room’s oval ebony table and Missoni-upholstered chairs are often deployed for card games. His bedroom is, of course, blue, with a pale blue leather screen, lacquer table, light and bedspread all designed by himself.

Extracted from The Irish at Home by Jane McDonnell and Sarah McDonnell, published by Gloss Publications. Readers of The Irish Times can have a copy of the book delivered anywhere in Ireland for €35, including pp, by emailing theirishathome@gmail.com or calling 01-275 5130. It will be on sale in bookshops from October 1