May 25, 2025This year, the Art Deco movement celebrates its 100th anniversary. So it’s fitting that this recently completed apartment by British design practice Elicyon — an esteemed member of the 2025 1stDibs 50 — is based in London’s 60 Curzon.
The new-build structure was imagined in high Deco-inspired style by the English firm PLP Architects, with interior architecture by the legendary late French architect Thierry Despont, who was renowned for his distinguished projects restoring and gently revising such Art Deco grande dames as Claridge’s in the British capital and the Ritz Paris.
“We were incredibly excited about 60 Curzon given the illustrious history,” says Elicyon founder Charu Gandhi. The site the new building stands on once housed the iconic restaurant Mirabelle, a favorite Mayfair haunt of such notable figures as JFK, Orson Welles and Winston Churchill.
“And there are so many things I love about Art Deco,” she continues. “I enjoy how elastic the style is, the way it works on different scales, from the Chrysler Building right down to a Cartier brooch. As a designer, you can take it in different directions, and I could quickly see how to transfer it into modern living.”
The building’s developers tasked Gandhi and team with the interior design of the first model apartment — a four-bedroom, 4,200-square-foot space — asking the studio to pay homage to the Deco stylings of PLP and Despont while also working in a mode that would imbue the residence with a lovely sense of lightness.
“We deployed some simple maneuvers, such as re-oiling the existing parquet floor and repainting the high-gloss black architraves, skirting and cornice in a paler color,” explains Gandhi. “Black and cream is a classic Art Deco device, of course, but this lighter scheme lifts the atmosphere while still retaining Despont’s vision.”
In the entryway of the completed apartment, there’s an indisputable sense of arrival thanks to a revolving Carrara marble plinth topped with a sizable 19th-century sienna marble urn, both of which sit under a brass ring pendant from Atelier Boucquet via 1stDibs.
“The corridor runs like a spine through the entire length of the apartment, so there was a risk of it feeling long and almost endless,” says Gandhi. “The urn is what I call a pivot piece. It creates a bold moment that we designed around.”
To the right of that corridor, Gandhi gently sectioned a generous lateral living space into zones using a curated selection of contemporary, bespoke and vintage pieces. “If a room is very big, it can feel like things are floating, so defined areas are a way to ground it,” explains Gandhi. “There’s a strong symmetry with the fireplace dead center, so we created a cocooning seating arrangement using twin Greenapple sofas that draw the focus in.”
Paired with the sofas is a high-backed vintage Carl Malmsten armchair, and in the middle of this seating vignette is an ornate iron, glass and gold-leaf coffee table from Lorfords, which also supplied commanding 20th-century plaster sculptures by Greg Payce as well as the entry’s plinth and urn.
On the far side of the room, a more intimate living area plays host to another exceptional antique find: a Deco-era Chappell baby grand piano crafted from quilted maple and found on 1stDibs. “We really leaned into the period with the furniture, and the piano is most definitely another pivot piece,” notes Gandhi.
Placed with several more 1stDibs finds — a 1950s Italian gilt-metal piano stool by Pier Luigi Colli from Joffis Vintage, a camel-back Christian Siriano sofa and a six-light Art Deco chandelier from Côté Jardin Antiques — all atop a wool and silk rug designed by 1stDibs 50 member Pamela Shamshiri for Christopher Farr, the instrument is an especially handsome addition.
In the nearby breakfast room — across the dining room and kitchen from this living area — an abundance of greenery and oversize antique planters, some glazed sunny yellow, complement a cheerfully upholstered banquette.
“We fell in love with this plain and patterned golden mohair,” adds Gandhi. “The plaster light fixture above has the same Art Deco language that speaks to pieces in the rest of the space, then the lively vintage artwork by Ross Foster ties it all together.”
Still more Deco objects can be found in the neutrally toned primary bedroom, where a pair of 1930s chairs, reupholstered in a pale, storm-cloud blue, is one of the only touches of color but for a neat pistachio-hued bolster pillow.
“This room has an incredible stillness, and, for me, it strikes the balance of feeling serene without being devoid of personality,” says Gandhi. “The bespoke headboard also references Deco forms, and we chose not to hang an overly complicated chandelier. Instead, the tiered Fortuny ceiling light underlines that sense of stillness.”
Running parallel to both the primary bedroom and the home’s living and entertaining spaces, a generous 800-square-foot terrace — accessed by a series of French doors — serves as a natural extension of the interior. “We sourced seating that felt like indoor furniture and an outdoor rug, all of which create a connection with the inside,” says Gandhi.
Completed on schedule within the tight 100-day time frame requested by the developers, the apartment was, Gandhi says, a real sprint of a project.
“We found that part of the brief very motivating and exciting, as we had to deliver without allowing standards to drop,” Gandhi explains. “It was a very collaborative, trusting relationship with the clients, and the outcome is testament to that. The space has a wonderful energy that’s tranquil but at the same time vibrant and dynamic. And, of course, it has a unique sense of depth that only the antique, vintage and the collected can bring.”
