The eponymous London studio of Tara Bernerd has marked its 15-year milestone with the release of a beautifully illustrated monograph reflecting on the interior designer’s fruitful career. For someone who prefers to move forward rather than look back, it makes perfect sense that Bernerd’s book not only reflects on past projects, but dedicates ample page space to present and future work.
Following a foreword by Richard Rogers, the featured projects span over ten years, yet each one appears current. Bernerd’s ability to create timeless spaces like these is perhaps down to the fact that she refuses to follow fashions. ‘Trends are something I have avoided – and perhaps rules, too,’ she says in one of the book’s three interviews, conducted by design authors Charlotte and Peter Fiell. ‘For me, the most important aspect of design is seeking the components that are authentic, that will stand true in time.’
Having left school at 16, Bernerd is proudly self-taught. She started out as a trader working in commercial property before taking her first design role at Philippe Starck’s YOO studio in the 1990s – an era she refers to as ‘the design crusade years’.
Petrol blue leather panelled wall with an artwork by Terry O’Neill in Bernerd’s London apartment
After leaving YOO, Bernerd set up her practice in 2002 – a loft extension in Battersea was her very first project. Ten years later and about 500 metres away from her debut commission, Bernerd completed the design of her own riverside apartment, which she has chosen as the book’s opening project. Finished in a palette of concrete, steel, petrol-blue leather and travertine, the apartment perfectly demonstrates Bernerd’s ability to masterfully layer together colour, light and texture to create sensual spaces with warmth and elegance.
As the illustrated projects progress into the present, we see Bernerd increasingly turning her hand to hospitality projects for clients such as Marco Pierre White, Sixty Hotels and Thompson – the founder of the latter, Jason Pomeranc, has penned Bernerd a glowing reference featured within the book’s opening pages.
As Bernerd looks towards the future, her studio’s upcoming projects, which include the Four Seasons in Fort Lauderdale, Hotel Russell in London and the interior of Herzog & de Meuron’s One Park Drive Tower in London’s Docklands, confirm that this 15-year-old star is still very much on the rise.
In addition to devising the layouts and interior design for the guest accomodation, Bernerd was responsible for the full interior architecture and design of the Thompson Chicago, completed in 2013
For this penthouse, with its panoramic views overlooking Kowloon and Hong Kong island, the designer created an Eastern-influenced, loft-style home
Finished in a palette of concrete, steel, petrol-blue leather and travertine, Bernerd’s own riverside apartment perfectly demonstrates her ability to masterfully layer together colour, light and texture
Bernerd transformed the former Sheraton hotel into the Belgrave (now known as The Hari London)
INFORMATION
Tara Bernerd: Place, £42.50, published by Rizzoli. For more information, visit Tara Bernerd’s website
-
Audemars Piguet and Kaws have created the Royal Oak Concept watch we didn't know we neededThe Audemars Piguet x Kaws Royal Oak Concept Tourbillon 'Companion' is slick wrist-worn art
-
A friendly rivalry coloured by kinship: Wendy Maruyama and Tom Loeser on their two-artist show'I wanted to make furniture, just not traditional furniture, but weird furniture,' says Wendy Maruyama on ‘Colorama’, a two-artist show presented at design gallery Superhouse (until 11 January 2025)
-
Tranquil and secluded, Lemaire’s new Tokyo flagship exudes a sense of homeIn Tokyo’s Ebisu neighbourhood, Lemaire’s tranquil new store sees the French brand take over a former 1960s home. Co-artistic directors Christophe Lemaire and Sarah-Linh Tran tell Wallpaper* more
-
Interior design books championing shelf loveWelcome to the Wallpaper* guide of the best interior design books published in 2024 and beyond – a collection of riveting visual tomes to feed creative innovation, inspiration and imagination
-
India Mahdavi monograph reveals a life in full colourAn ode to the power of colour, India Mahdavi’s first monograph shines the spotlight on the designer’s trendsetting interiors and signature pieces
-
Aldo Rossi’s work and legacy celebratedWhile Molteni & C celebrates the furniture design of Aldo Rossi, MAXXI Museum pays tribute to the postmodernist architect through a series of sketches, photographs and models, on show in Rome until 17 October 2021
-
Pierre Jeanneret’s midcentury designs for Chandigarh get an LA audience -
Photographer John Myers’ portraits of 1970s Middle England suburbia -
How Industrial Facility creates a visual narrative of its unique design dialogue -
Success by the book: the tale of Italian brand Natuzzi’s evolution is revealed in a new tome -
Cassina’s furniture as seen through the lens of Karl Lagerfeld
