A uniting factor behind the best homes is their adherence to certain design principles: space, light, materials, nature and decoration. It doesn’t matter if you live in a stately, a semi or a studio, these tenets – the framework of our co-founder Matt Gibberd’s book, A Modern Way to Live – can, as Matt says, “allow you to live a better and more fulfilled life”.

One person who knows that better than most is Simon Allford, co-founder of highly decorated architectural practice AHMM, chair of the board of trustees of the Architecture Foundation and former president of the RIBA. It’s precisely why Matt’s chosen Simon as the first subject in our new film series, Homing In.

A prime contender for the exploration of space, our first theme, Simon’s home is extraordinary, perched “in the sky”, spreading across the top floors of a Marylebone mansion block. Shifting over the decades he’s had it, it’s a masterclass in adaptation, changing as it has from bachelor pad to young couple’s lodgings to hardworking family home. Seen as a whole, Simon says, the apartment is “the long history of family life captured not in a photo album but in the spaces in which you’re in”.

Filming: Edmund Cook
Editing: David Potter
Production: Hannah Phillips
Graphic Design: Tom Young
Music by Father

'A Modern Way to Live' book by Matt Gibberd: https://www.penguin.co.uk/books/32017...
Matt wears 'The Photographer' jacket by Toogood: https://t-o-o-g-o-o-d.com/products/01...
Simon Allford's architecture practice, AHMM: https://www.ahmm.co.uk/
'Extra Ordinary' book by Simon Allford: https://www.ribabooks.com/Extra-Ordin...
Rug by Christopher Farr: https://christopherfarr.com/
Simon's favourite chair, the 'Cité' armchair by Jean Prouvé: https://www.twentytwentyone.com/produ...
'Eames' lounge chair by Charles & Ray Eames: https://www.twentytwentyone.com/produ...
Pair of vintage 'LC-1' pony-skin chairs by Le Corbusier: https://www.pamono.co.uk/bauhaus-lc1-...
'1970' cushion by Bella Freud: https://bellafreud.com/products/1970-...
Coffee table by Isamu Noguchi for Vitra: https://www.scp.co.uk/products/noguch...
'As Is When' series of screenprints by Eduardo Paolozzi: https://www.tate.org.uk/art/artworks/...
Painting by Joe Tilson: https://www.joetilson.com/
'606 Universal' shelving system by Dieter Rams for Vitsoe: https://www.vitsoe.com/gb/606
Le Corbusier's Pavillon Suisse: https://www.fondationsuisse.fr/en/
Tiles from the Parco dei Principi hotel in Sorrento, by Gio Ponti: https://www.royalgroup.it/parcodeipri...
1933 Sheffield Wednesday train set from Hornby: http://www.hornbyguide.com/item_detai...

Never miss a new film, subscribe here: https://bit.ly/36I7z8y
Follow us on Instagram: http://bit.ly/2uGSO1J
Selling design-led homes in the UK: https://themodernhouse.media/1c20
Like us on Facebook: https://bit.ly/34BKO3x

Best interiors Instagram accounts (Vogue)
Best homes accounts (Guardian)
Ultimate interiors accounts (Telegraph)