Sophie Mills Studio have been Shortlisted for Kitchen Design Over £100,000 Award in The International Design and Architecture Awards 2022. Read more about Creative Director, Sophie Mills, below:

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Name: Sophie Mills

Company:  Sophie Mills Studio

Position within company: Creative Director

Website: www.sophiemills.com

Tell us a little about your background in design:
After working as a corporate lawyer and diplomat, I studied for a post graduate diploma in Interior Architectural Design at Inchbald School of Design in London.  Since graduating in 2008, I have worked with several other designers and run my own practice for the last 9 years.

How would you describe your personal design style?
Minimal, sculptural, considered.

Where does your design inspiration come from?
There’s a huge amount of visual inspiration for specific projects out there, not least somewhere like Instagram, but I’m also inspired more broadly by sculpture, philosophy, psychology and neuroscience.  I listen to A LOT of podcasts and try to understand more about how our minds work and how we interact with our environments.  I really admire the work of those seeking a purity of aesthetic and expression, and exploring deeper questions, such as John Pawson, David Adjaye, Yayoi Kusama, Es Devlin, Anthony Gormley.

In what direction do you feel that design is moving towards in a general sense?
Design is becoming much more person-centred, sensory-focused, and tailored to the individual, who is considered in greater depth than just visual aesthetics.  We’re creating intimate spaces that work cohesively and on a tactile and multisensory level.

Name five key themes to consider when approaching design in 2022 and beyond.
Sustainability, sustainability, sustainability – both in terms of the origins, composition and production of materials, and their longevity and inherent qualities, such as energy consumption and health benefits for the client.

There is a much greater understanding of diversity in the user experience and increasing exploration and evidence of the impact that our environments have on our wellbeing.  Our virtual worlds are so dominant in our lives, that our physical worlds must act as a grounding sensorial counterbalance to that.

If you could offer one piece of advice when it comes to design schemes, what would it be?
Coco Chanel said ‘Before you leave the house, look in the mirror and take one thing off’.   I think the same mindset can be applied to design schemes – consider how you can pare it back to make it the most elegantly functional space possible. By removing unnecessary elements, you enable the inherent qualities of the materials to come to the fore, creating capacity for us to give them our attention.  Life can be overwhelming, so we need space and quiet within our interior spaces to rest our minds.

How important are The International Design & Architecture Awards?
In the busy world of residential design, it’s easy to be absorbed in the minutiae of a project and move swiftly on to the next.  The International Design & Architecture Awards encourage you to step back and review and reflect on your work, share it with your contemporaries whilst being inspired in turn by them.  It’s a wonderful thing to celebrate everyone’s achievements and hard work.

What projects are you currently working on?
We’re working on several residential projects in the UK and overseas, as well as developing some individual pieces of furniture, which I’m excited about.

What was your favourite project to work on and why?
It’s a bit like asking which is your favourite child!  All projects are completely different for their challenges, relationships, and location, but on the latter point, I think the Belizean beachfront villas win.

What was your most challenging project to work on and why?
Projects can be challenging in different ways, but smooth relationships and good communication within the whole team are really the essential components of a stress-free project, so any project where that’s not the case makes it challenging.

Which products/services could you not live without when designing?
I think every design starts with imagination, a pencil and a blank page – those are the only essential items, everything else is adaptable.

What are your aims and goals for the next twelve months?
To continue to learn more about sustainability and sensory design, and to consciously integrate these elements in all our projects.

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

Your most treasured possession?
My daughter (to the extent one could ever be said to possess another human).

Your favourite holiday destination?
Holidays seem like a bit of a distant memory, but I had some gorgeous times in Menorca, pre-lockdown.

hotel, restaurant & bar?
At the moment, Experimental Hotel in Menorca, which is excellent on all fronts.

Your favourite book, film & song?
I associate these with growing up and so they feel part of who I am:  Wuthering Heights by Emily Bronte, Gone with the Wind, because I watched it over and over on Betamax video as a small kid, and Billie Jean by Michael Jackson, which never fails to fill a dance floor.

Your favourite food and drink?
Pretty much anything relating to vegetables, and matcha, which powers my life.

Your favourite way to spend an afternoon?
I’m an introvert, so it would be quiet time in my study, while my dog basks in the sunlight and snores gently in the corner.

If you weren’t a designer, what would you be?
A writer, a sculptor, a philosopher perhaps! But I hope that you can be those and be a designer, both within your work and beyond it.

Anything else interesting?
I think it’s a great privilege to be entrusted with designing our clients’ homes, their most intimate spaces, and I hope we enhance their everyday experiences.

Sophie Mills Studio have been Shortlisted for Kitchen Design Over £100,000 Award in The International Design and Architecture Awards 2022.

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