Design Haus Liberty are a London based architecture, planning and design practice. Their 25 strong team specialise in tailored, integrated, bespoke solutions in both residential and commercial design. Their unique style has won them recognition in the form of international awards and their founder, Dara Huang, was recently featured in the BBC’s annual series ‘100 Women’, honouring inspirational women around the world. She shares some of her experiences and inspirations with us on our blog this week.

Q: How would you describe your signature style?
Clean and sophisticated with a modern edge

Q: Who are your favourite designers?
Architecture it has to be Herzog and de Meuron, also interiors by Joseph Dirantd. I also take inspiration from fashion designers such as Alexander McQueen and Yves Saint Laurent.

Q: What do you like most about your job?
I love creating and designing interesting spaces. Also finding inspiration to come up with new and exciting ideas/ concepts.

Q: What’s the hardest part?
Obviously starting a London design studio has its fair share of challenges…The most difficult aspect has been managing a rapidly expanding studio to keep up with the flow of new work – which is a nice problem to have!

Q: What inspires you the most?
I get inspiration from materials. For example, I enjoy working with hand blown glass and spinning metals such as bronze which we use a lot in our installations. We aim for all our pieces to be completely original statement pieces so that they all stand out in their respective spaces. For example, the Copper Island is a sculptural statement piece that is also a functional kitchen island.

Q: Where’s your favourite place to be?
Bed!

Q: If you had a time machine, what period of design would you like to live in?
I would live in the present day –  definitely now!

Q: Can you tell us about a bathroom design project that you’ve worked on?
I have recently designed a freestanding bath tub on a floating marble slab.

Q: What would your dream bathroom be like?
My dream bathroom would be very large with a large soft ottoman in the center  and incorporate separate ‘his and hers’ toilet, sink and shower heads

Q: Where in the world have you stayed where a bathroom design has really stood out, and why?
Upper House in Hong Kong as the bathrooms boast incredible city views. There is a button you can press which brings up the blinds so you can enjoy the views whilst in the tub. Also the finish is very luxurious with good use of mood lighting.

Q:  If you could give one piece of advice when designing a bathroom, what would it be?
Don’t specify stone on all the surfaces – it’s overkill. It’s much more impactful to have a feature wall and vary the materials.

Q: Complete this sentence – home is…
Home is where the heart is of course!