For Thaïs Niville from Ville Design, interior architecture is never about repetition. Every project is a new opportunity to listen, to explore and to create something truly unique. We sat down with the studio to talk about their evolving design language and how they guide clients through the selection process.
HOW WOULD YOU DESCRIBE YOUR STYLE?
Describing our style isn’t easy. We always listen very closely to our clients and we never impose choices to push our own vision. Instead, our style emerges through a dialogue between the client’s perspective and our own design philosophy. It's a process that takes time. We often start in one direction, only to evolve as material choices, new insights or conversations with the client take the project in a different direction. We also don’t like to repeat ourselves, we prefer to reinvent with every assignment, aiming to create something that feels truly unique to the client. But, if we had to describe our interiors, we’d say they are warm, refined and homely — clean-lined, with great attention to detail.
WHERE DO YOU FIND MATERIAL INSPIRATION?
What makes this particularly interesting is that we rarely use the same materials across different projects. We like to research, discover and explore. Sometimes clients even surprise us with suggestions we hadn’t considered ourselves and we think, “That’s actually a great idea.” We’re constantly surrounded by inspiration, from Instagram and Pinterest to trade publications, but we never copy anything. We reinterpret ideas in a way that fits our own vision and the context of the project.
HOW DO YOU GUIDE CLIENTS IN MAKING THE RIGHT MATERIAL CHOICES, AND WHAT ROLE DOES THE HUB PLAY IN THAT PROCESS?
We start thinking about materials early in the 3D design phase. Naturally, this process is guided by the client’s wishes and needs, as they’re the ones who must feel at home in the space we create. The Hub has become a natural place for us to explore those choices together. The space, the materials and the samples there often take us outside of our comfort zone, and clients see options they might never have considered otherwise. It’s just a very intuitive setting to build a mood board together, especially since we don’t have everything in our office.
WHAT IS CURRENTLY YOUR FAVOURITE MATERIAL, AND WHY?
That’s always a hard one, but right now textiles really speak to us. We recently discovered the collection from Designs of the Time, and just this morning we had an inspiring meeting with Arte. We immediately saw so many possible applications for future projects, from cabinet doors to upholstery and even entire rooms.
