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Hong Kong-based AFSO has designed the Berkley Suites (Crescent Pavilion Suites) in London, which was to present a modernist glass house escape, looking over London’s Knightsbridge skyline.

The design starts with a freestanding glass pavilion installation on the vast roof adjoining the existing hotel. Embracing the spirit of a modern English manor, the experience begins with an intimate living salon lined with English wood paneling accented with a gold patina infill and soft fabric shades. Guests can enjoy the visually mesmerizing installation of canvas artwork by the Lebanese artist Etel Adnan and lithograph prints by Agnes Martin.

At the end of the living salon, a curved portal sculpted entirely in solid Volakas white marble introduces the suite’s highlighting design feature – a glasshouse spanning over 800 sq. ft. designed as a contemporary sunroom. It offers 270-degree views of the London cityscape ending with a terrace bordered by seasonal English flowers and topiary. Sliding glass walls connect the indoors with the outdoors, and a handtufted carpet in mint-green and mineral grey echoes the design of the terrace.

Spread over 2,300 sq. ft., the suite is dedicated to the theme of ‘retreat’, complete with the glasshouse and an alfresco lounge at one end with a 12-seater dining table at the other. An intricate feature screen in stained oak segments with interlocking brushed brass brackets evoke understated modernity, along with a custom-made hexagonal rock glass pendant suspended above the dining table. An L-shaped island bar counter in quartzite aqua marble evokes the modern British spirit, and the entire glasshouse is surrounded by a seasonal garden and sculptural topiary.

The master bedroom has a similar oak screen with a gradation of timber blocks and brushed brass brackets and a sketch by the French artist Jean Michel Othoniel. A pale racing green color palette with mineral grey and champagne gold accents is played against the honed white Carrara marble.