The inaugural Design Week Dublin’s first sold-out event attracted fans and followers from all over …
There was a huge audience for interior designer Bryan O’Sullivan’s Design Talk, Design Week Dublin’s first event at Anantara The Marker in Grand Canal Dock. The Irish designer had flown in from New York the day before (with husband and business partner James O’Neill and their son Cosmo, pictured) to attend Design Week Dublin’s launch.
Jane McDonnell and Bryan O’Sullivan.
Hosted by Róisín Lafferty at her glamorous new gallery on Fitzwilliam Square, it was a chance for him to catch up with fellow DWD designers and speakers.
Welcoming guests on behalf of Jane and Sarah McDonnell, co-founders of Design Week Dublin, and founders of THE GLOSS Magazine and THE GLOSS Interiors, MC Ciara Doherty introduced Bryan’s interviewer for the occasion, architect and broadcaster, Amanda Bone.
A Dublin-based architect and a judge on RTÉ’s Home of the Year, and admirer of Bryan’s work, Amanda opened the Design Talk with a question about the designer’s career journey from Co Kerry to the upper echelons of interior design in New York and London, and a practice with projects all over the world.
Bryan described his upbringing in Kenmare, where his parents owned a coffee shop and delicatessen, before his decision to embark on a career in hospitality via Dublin’s Cathal Brugha Street. Soon realising his true calling was in the world of architecture and design, he interned at David Collins Design Studio, and took a degree in Architecture in London. Although architecture was a draw, he was truly seduced by interior design. Working for various designers, including the celebrated Annabelle Seldorf in New York, he found his forte.
Bryan’s international design studio now has more than 70 employees working in offices in London and New York, with Bryan (and James and Cosmo) travelling every six weeks back and forth from city to city. High energy stuff? “In a year, we will have to decide on a school for Cosmo, so ultimately we’ll base ourselves primarily in one city.”
For over a decade, Bryan has delivered residential projects for clients in London, Dublin, Paris, Mexico and LA, as well as a yacht or two.
He is highly sought after for his work in luxury hotels including The Connaught, The Berkeley and Claridge’s, while The Maybourne Riviera project has been widely praised.
The Barbican, London.
The presentation accompanying Bryan’s Design Talk showed just a small example of this designer’s extraordinary portfolio. First to be shown were images of his own flat in The Barbican, the iconic Brutalist building so beloved of modernists. Amanda observed how his design softened and balanced the severity of the space with a contemporary and liveable aesthetic, with lots of art, beautifully hung, informed by an elegant and eclectic European point of view. It’s also home to some of his furniture prototypes: “You have to live with a piece to know it really works,” he said. His furniture and lighting collection (represented in Ireland at Róisín Lafferty’s gallery) is evolving.
Bryan’s aesthetic combines authentic glamour with custom contemporary furnishings and immaculate, considered antiques. “I like different styles from the 1920s to ’50s, a mix of art deco and Italian minimalist.” He explained how he encourages his team to source references from books – “not fads from algorithms” or “what’s trending”. Amanda concurred, suggesting that the reliance on social media has led to a lack of understanding of real design principles and eras.
His appreciation of books and careful research culminated in the publication of his own book, published by Rizzoli last year. A New Glamour is a joy to look at and to read, and for those curious about this designer’s work, there are many answers to the questions you might pose. Is his work influenced by his background? “Yes, Kerry is my happy place, it recharges me, I couldn’t do the work I do without spending time there.” It’s also where he catches up with family. His father, a well-known footballer in the ’70s, is part of the studio set-up, encouraging team building, a positive work environment and a collegial culture.
Placing huge value on the skills of craftspeople and artisans means Bryan still relies on a number of Irish suppliers such as Eoin Turner from Co Cork for handmade architectural glass, Tim Dunleavy of Dunleavy Bespoke for furniture and PD Marlowe for specialist plasterwork.
With his newly designed interior for the restaurant in The Frick to be unveiled next week in New York, he departed for a brief recharge at home before this latest hotly anticipated launch. For more information about Design Week Dublin, in partnership with Range Rover, see designweekdublin.com.
Click into the gallery to see the guests who attended.
Photographer: Conor Healy, Picture It Pix.
