In Profile:
Alexander James Interiors

Company: Alexander James Interiors

Website: www.aji.co.uk

Tell us a little about your background:
The team at Alexander James Interiors have a host of differing backgrounds in both experience and education. Some of our longest standing, award winning designers have been with Alexander James Interiors for nearly 20 years. Whilst on the contrary, our latest Intern turned Junior Interior Designer; a recent graduate from KLC has been with us for couple of years. We have recently also had Julian Walker join our team who is the son of Robert Walker, our founder and MD.  We feel we flourish hugely from having several differing level designers, backgrounds, and viewpoints. This allows us to service all our client’s needs, whilst nurturing the future talent of both AJI and the wider industry.

How would you describe your personal design style?
Both our Architectural and Interior design team design to a brief. For instance, we have one designer at present working on a contemporary London apartment whilst also deploying a scheme for a six-bedroom farmhouse in Surrey. Regardless of what the clients is looking for, be that a classic contemporary project in the home counties, a show home to assist in cementing the guide price or indeed a chic holiday home, our team can lend their creative flair to whatever the client wishes. Not to mention we also work on hotels, full apartment schemes and later life living.

Where does your design inspiration come from?
Our designers are constantly staying up to date with the latest styles and trends. We pride ourselves on working with thousands of differing suppliers who come to the office daily to speak to our designers about their latest collections as well as attending all the latest trade shows. Sharing best practice between colleagues is also the added benefit of having a larger and well diverse team. We also invest time into getting to know new architects, estate agents and property influencers to ensure we stay ahead of the game and learn from new and inspiring talent.

In what direction do you feel that design is moving towards in a general sense?
Whilst fashion and fads come ago, we see on a daily basis clients that are happy to test the waters but still admire incredible craftmanship, exceptionally well thought out design and the power of quality of finish has never been more important.

Name five key themes to consider when approaching design in 2023 and beyond.
Colour, stripped back design, craftsmanship and testing the boundaries!

If you could offer one piece of advice when it comes to design schemes, what would it be? Test the boundaries of your design and in turn test your clients. Whilst many of our clients come to us as they are either not knowledgeable or incredibly time poor, some on the contrary do have very strong ideas of what they wish the product to look like. Trusting our instincts as a designer whilst ensuring we still service our clients is at the forefront of our ethos.

How important are The International Design & Architecture Awards?
Any opportunity to celebrate the success of our team and the work we have created is hugely important to us as a company. It is always a great achievement to receive an award that is seen as the best in the world of interior design. It is also particularly gratifying to be recognised by those in the same industry as yourself. Meeting other people in the industry and to celebrate their work is also hugely exciting.

What projects are you currently working on?
Our team is currently working on several mixed sized and style private homes, developer show homes in London and the rest of the UK as well as commercial projects, for example a boutique hotel in Bucharest. We are also very excited to have launched our expansion into the UAE, opening and office and working alongside two fantastic partners to service clients overseas.

What was your favourite project to work on and why?
Gosh just one! It would be impossible to pick. Our most treasured projects tend to be the ones where both our Architectural and Interior sides of the business have worked together. In this instance this current project  is a prime example of both sides of the business working seamlessly together to create the best outcome for our client. Having such a strong basis to any project gives our clients world class customer service from to start to finish.  Become a trusted partner is at the forefront of our approach.