In Profile:
These White Walls

Name: Rose Murray

Company: These White Walls

Position within company: CEO/Founder

Website: thesewhitewalls.com

Tell us a little about your background in design (education, experience, etc)
My background in design is rather unconventional as I have an academic background in Anthropology rather than interiors. My multidisciplinary career as a scenographer, stylist and designer began by turning an internship at Vogue magazine post-university into a role styling editorials and tv sets for the BBC, then designing immersive events and eventually working with private clients on their personal and commercial properties, which led me to set up These White Walls studio.

How would you describe your personal design style?
I have more of a design sensibility than a specific style, focusing on Narrative, Materials and Artistry within each of our schemes to create a beautiful bespoke environment that is unique to our clients. My personal style always come through as a bold feminine beauty that creates an understated elegance and an emotion resonance within the space. It is often characterised by natural authentic materials combined with intricate, tactile craftsmanship.

Where does your design inspiration come from?

Life offline mostly — I travel a lot and am endlessly inspired by the material characteristics and forms of other cultures and how these diverse elements can be combined to create new and exciting combinations and expressions.

In what direction do you feel that design is moving towards in a general sense?

Emotional resonance and tactile sensuality will be increasingly important since our world is increasing moving out of the physical as we spend more time in digital and cerebral spaces; we will still require our spaces to keep us grounded and present in our bodies so sensuality and emotion remain key.

Name five key themes to consider when approaching design in 2024 and beyond.

1. Technological innovation
2. Sustainability
3. Mental and Physical wellbeing
4. Multipurpose environments
5. Bespoke personalisation

If you could offer one piece of advice when it comes to design schemes, what would it be?

Focus on the narrative that you wish to create for your client in the space and ensure that it filters through all of your decisions around materials and dressing, as this will enable your design to feel more meaningful and be more impactful in the end

How important are The International Design & Architecture Awards?

The IDAA are incredible valuable for our industry because it offers recognition to new or lesser known designers, it inspires existing industry members and those aspiring towards design to keep creating and innovating, and it offers a wonderful platform to celebrate what design continue to bring to the world.

What projects are you currently working on?

Multiple luxury private residential projects including villa complexes in the Middle East, Southern Spain and period property conversions in central London and the UK. 

Which products/services could you not live without when designing?

Lighting designers are a critical partner within the development of the interior designer so we value collaborations with other experts in their fields who really bring the beautiful scheme to life. Equally in terms of products, TWW couldn’t live without Wallpapers by Degournay, furniture from the Invisible Collection, and Gessi sanitaryware.

What are your aims and goals for the next twelve months?

To increasingly explore and integrate new technologies into our design processes in a way that enhances our design and delivery processes; to increase our sustainability credentials and find ways to work with innovative materials and practices that offer a more sustainable experience of luxury; to expand our portfolio to new regions and with new partners gloabally.

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

Your most treasured possession?

My family

Your favourite holiday destination?

Italy —from top to toe, I endlessly love the food, the art, the architecture, the language, the people!

Your favourite hotel, restaurant & bar?

Hotel — Coqui Coqui Coba, Mexico

Restaurant— The Ledbury, London

Bar—Alquimico, Cartegena, Colombia

Your favourite book, film & song?

Book — the Poetics of Space,  by Bachelard

Film —La Gran Belleza

Song — anything by Beautiful Chorus

Your favourite food and drink?

Food – my mother’s ice cream

Drink – a negroni

Your favourite way to spend an afternoon?

Walking in nature preferably with an ocean swim

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

A marine biologist