Kube have been Shortlisted for Residential Architectural Property Award in The International Design and Architecture Awards 2022. Read more about Managing Director, Tala Akkawi, below:

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Name: Tala Akkawi

Company: Kube (Kube Management Ltd)

Position within company: MD

Website: https://www.instagram.com/kube_Mgt

Tell us a little about your background in design:
I read Architecture at the Bartlet UCL (University College London), for undergraduate, diploma & masters, where I cultivated a passion for history and theory of design.  After some experience in practise, I set up Kube and undertook residential & hotel projects in prime London, South of France, the UAE & Lebanon.

How would you describe your personal design style?
Client’s desires and site parameters inform the backbone of our design. Coupled with a love for detail that facilitates bespoke furniture, lighting, artwork & features to enhance the style and comfort for its users. It excites me to introduce clients to, or enhance, a zen way of living. We incorporate the elements and borrow from Feng Shu to feed all the senses. Clients can come home welcomed by sounds of bubbling water, seamlessly walk-through spaces without having to touch a thing, with clear views out to the landscape enjoyed from the shower or eye-level laying down in the sauna or jacuzzi (all the while seeming effortless unbeknownst of the extent planning to achieve these feats).

Where does your design inspiration come from?
Impulse. Over the last couple of decades I have noticed the initial idea-inspiration, had when setting foot on site for the first time, tends to hold strong. While followed with many design iterations, the process usually comes full circle to a more refined initial idea. Inspiration is drawn from flow of spaces, allowing the user to inhabit liminal thresholds as well as dedicated rooms. Borrowing from ceremonial design, like temples, to classics like Frank Lloyd Wright, Enric Miralles and more recently toward art and sustainable design, like harnessing the phenomenal potential of mycelium.

In what direction do you feel that design is moving towards in a general sense?
Design is moving toward betterment of wellness – enhancing schemes inwards toward a deeper and more meaningful use of space for the user.

Name five key themes to consider when approaching design in 2022 and beyond.

• Using local resources & materials, see what magic can be created locally, with upcycling and from other trades, like fashion’s use of mycelium and fungi!
• Permits for more outdoor living, we have all recently learnt the importance of personal outdoor space and so have the planners! There is much potential to create and further enhance outdoor amenity.
• Incorporating the elements; Natural light, earth, water, fire & air.
• Simplicity; moving away from opulence and back toward authentic materiality & craft.
• Energy & comfort efficient; with rising energy standards (EPC), fuel hikes, lower water standards, WFH’s higher expectations of internet; balanced with innovative and affordable counterparts – it is a perfect time for a holistic smart-overhaul.

If you could offer one piece of advice when it comes to design schemes, what would it be?
Offering practical advice: practise the art of active listening with client, team and collaborators. Being dubbed the ‘excel queen’ of preparation, take it from me that transforming design into reality is a road riddled with hidden works, the human condition and surprise. Do not hold your breath for perfection, so that you can take the unexpected in your stride. Then enhance & upgrade performance by hearing everyone, to apply their capability & vision, leading to a flowing group dynamic and optimal results.

How important are The International Design & Architecture Awards?
Being recognised by The International Design & Architecture Awards is a prestigious honour. The diversity and breadth of the categories capture the true essence of design that year – producing an authentic record of craft. Both the design community & clients contribute to judging, giving the ever so special touch, and reflection of taste that year.

What projects are you currently working on?
We are currently working on some existing residential blocks in Central London – creating more outdoor living throughout, creating more space and attractive energy efficient envelopes. It is an exciting time in the UK for a holistic smart overhaul.

What was your favourite project to work on and why?
Working on the Reawaken Retreat villa in France was deeply rewarding. We sourced the land that felt charged from the get-go. The design was initially a reflection of my personal desires toward wellness and communal living. As the project was being built, the stunning panoramic views and joie de vivre nourished & inspired us to go further with the design. Bringing to life the ouroboros – life was inspiring design and design was inspiring living, charmingly feeding and flowing into one another.

What was your most challenging project to work on and why?
In the same breath, the Reawaken Retreat villa was also the most challenging project to work on. The south of France in general has a joie de vivre mentality that requires quite a bit more encouragement to get things done well and cost efficiently.

Which products/services could you not live without when designing?
With projects around the world and ambitious targets; the large iPad wt. drawing pen is a crucial appendage for recording inspiration & practical notes in real time! 

What are your aims and goals for the next twelve months?
We aim to be more experimental with materiality.

Final thoughts; tell us a little more about yourself and your daily inspirations:

Your most treasured possession?
Air pods; for long walks to reset and rewire.

Your favourite holiday destination?
Ibiza – Reawaken Retreat coming soon!

Your favourite hotel, restaurant & bar?
Atzaro Agroturismo in Ibiza – authentic craft with simple yet rich soul.

Your favourite book, film & song?
5 Influential books recently read: Stealing Fire, by Steven Kotler & Jamie Wheal, Extreme Ownership by Jacko Willink, Never split the difference: Negotiating as if Your Life Depended on It by Chris Voss, The Untethered Soul by Michael A. Singer, The Gift by Edith Eger

Your favourite food and drink?
A liquid lunch – mornings are my most productive and I enjoy it flowing seamlessly into the afternoon with high energy.

Your favourite way to spend an afternoon?
Anywhere outdoors; anywhere in nature.

If you weren’t a designer, what would you be?
An artist.

Anything else interesting?
Dreams of building with mycelium, coming one day soon!

Kube have been Shortlisted for Residential Architectural Property Award in The International Design and Architecture Awards 2022.

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