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Michaelis Boyd partner Christina Gregoriou advises designers and homeowners to identify awkward spaces early and treat them as part of the project’s central design. She described how a structural column at the Miiro Paris hotel renovation informed a custom seat in a small niche, turning a difficult area into a defining feature. The source does not provide a publication date or details of the full interview’s final section.
Christina Gregoriou, a partner at London architecture and design studio Michaelis Boyd, says homeowners and designers should address awkward corners, narrow corridors and exposed structural columns at the start of a project rather than leaving them until last. In an interview with Livingetc, she described how the studio used a difficult niche at the Miiro Paris hotel to shape a custom seat, illustrating how a design constraint can become a focal point when it is planned for early.
Gregoriou’s advice is to give difficult areas primary consideration from day one. She said projects often contain spaces that are hard to assign a purpose: unused corners, narrow passages, or rooms whose character changes when walls come down and structural elements are revealed. Leaving these areas until the rest of a design is settled, she said, risks making them look like an afterthought.
Her example comes from the renovation of Miiro Paris, a hotel formed from two heritage Haussmann-era buildings connected from different streets. According to Gregoriou, the secondary entrance had been treated as the less appealing side of the property. It was dark, narrow and short on natural light, and had been used for back-of-house functions, offices and windowless meeting rooms. The studio rethought the area as a moody, intimate speakeasy rather than accepting its existing role.
During the strip-out, the team uncovered a structural column that created a small pocket with no obvious practical use. Gregoriou said the designers placed a custom love seat in the niche, using the column and the limited space as design prompts. She described the resulting feature as one of the space’s most memorable elements. The interview also mentions a Michaelis Boyd bathroom designed for WOW!house with House of Rohl, where the team selected a statement round bathtub as the room’s central feature; the supplied source cuts off before giving further detail.
Why Early Planning Changes the Result
The advice offers a practical way to approach renovations: identify the spaces most likely to resist a standard layout before choosing how the rest of the project will work. That can help homeowners and design teams avoid treating awkward areas as leftover space, and may influence decisions about circulation, lighting, furniture and room use. Gregoriou’s example shows one design response, not a guarantee that every structural obstacle can or should be turned into a feature.
The Miiro Paris case also connects design choices to the building’s history and operating needs. The studio’s account describes a secondary entrance with an established back-of-house role and a challenging layout; it does not detail the technical approvals, costs or operational changes involved in the redesign. For readers planning a renovation, the broader takeaway is to discuss constraints early with the relevant design and building professionals, particularly where structural elements are involved.
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The Miiro Paris Design Example
Michaelis Boyd was founded in Notting Hill, London, in 1995 by architects Tim Boyd and Alex Michaelis. The practice works across residential, commercial, hospitality and restaurant projects. Livingetc presents Gregoriou’s comments as lessons that can be applied beyond the studio’s hotel and restaurant commissions, including to homes of different sizes.
At Miiro Paris, the studio was renovating two historic buildings linked across different streets. Gregoriou’s account traces the design challenge from an entrance previously used for service functions to the discovery of a column during strip-out, and then to the decision to make a custom seat for the resulting niche. The source gives this project as an example of responding to an existing building rather than treating its difficult features solely as problems to conceal.
Details the Interview Leaves Open
The supplied Livingetc report does not state when the interview was published. It also does not provide measurements, construction costs, accessibility considerations or technical details about the Miiro Paris column and seat. Gregoriou’s description establishes the studio’s design rationale, but there is no independent account in the supplied material assessing the feature’s operation or its effect on guests.
The source ends partway through a discussion of the WOW!house bathroom, after noting the choice of a round statement bathtub. It does not include Gregoriou’s full advice on that room or explain the final design outcome. No broader claim about renovation costs, property value or the suitability of this approach for all homes is supported by the material.
Applying the Advice to a Renovation
The interview does not announce a new project or provide a future milestone. For readers considering a renovation, the practical next step suggested by Gregoriou’s comments is to identify narrow passages, unused corners and structural features during early planning, then discuss possible uses with the design team before fixing the layout. Structural changes and work involving a building’s stability should be assessed by qualified professionals; the source does not describe the engineering process used at Miiro Paris.
Further details about the WOW!house bathroom and the full extent of Gregoriou’s recommendations are not available in the supplied excerpt. Any assessment of how the Miiro Paris design performs over time would require information beyond the interview’s account.
Key Questions
What is Christina Gregoriou’s main advice for difficult spaces?
She advises identifying and planning for awkward spaces early, rather than leaving them until the rest of a design is complete.
What did Michaelis Boyd do with the awkward niche at Miiro Paris?
According to Gregoriou, the team fitted a custom love seat into a small niche formed around a structural column.
Why was the Miiro Paris entrance challenging to design?
Gregoriou described the secondary entrance as dark, narrow and lacking natural light. It had previously been used for back-of-house functions, offices and windowless meeting rooms.
Does the interview say every awkward feature should become a focal point?
No. Gregoriou describes a design approach and a particular hotel example. The supplied source does not claim that every structural constraint can or should become a feature.
What is known about the WOW!house bathroom mentioned in the report?
The excerpt says Michaelis Boyd worked with House of Rohl and chose a statement round bathtub as the room’s central feature. The source cuts off before providing more detail.
Source: livingetc.com
