The best new city residences for design lovers

A date at the Curzon 
Home to some of London’s most prestigious galleries, 60 Curzon in Mayfair puts art at the centre of the scene. The development, designed by the late Thierry Despont, has been curated with pieces by British artist Vanessa Jackson and Royal Academician David Nash, while the 32 apartments including two penthouses (from £10.95mn through Knight Frank and Savills) will offer works by photographers Sasha Gusov and Cyrus Mahboubian and the filmmaker Henri Chopin.

Design lovers will also find a first: a collaboration with Tom Chapman, Nicholas Pickaerts’ Abask and Thierry Despont for the dressing of the communal areas and three show apartments. Homeowners will separately be able to buy the 60 Curzon x Abask accessories.

Dolce Miami

Branded residences are currently popular throughout the world, but the US is the frontrunner in the market. Miami has been named by international estate agent Knight Frank as the location with the most new developments in the pipeline. The latest fashion label to put its name to a residence – 888 Brickell Miami – is Dolce & Gabbana, whose flamboyant Sicilian style has been a favourite with everyone from Madonna to Ciara, which joins Armani, Missoni and Fendi in the shopping-friendly city. Prices for the Dolce & Gabbana Residences range from $3.5mn to over $35mn, through Official.

Puttin’ on the Ritz

Architect-designer Tanju Özelgin has reinterpreted slick 1970s design at The Ritz-Carlton’s first European standalone private residences in Istanbul (from €1.57mn) with a moody palette and selections of sculptures that are a nod to the city’s thriving art scene. Özelgin’s reinvention pays homage to Turkish architects Doğan Tekeli and Sami Sisa, who designed the building, which was then the Yapı Kredi Bank in Valikonagi Street, in 1972. The bank instantly became a landmark in modish Nişantaşi, an area known for its trendy restaurants and boutique shopping.

Design Matters

Grade II-listed 9 Millbank, minutes from London’s Houses of Parliament, has transformed the former HQ of Imperial Chemical Industries into a collection of grand apartments. The latest release, the Gainsborough (£18mn, through Nest Seekers), has been styled by interior designer Katharine Pooley – who knows well how to coordinate modern luxe – with period stained glass, domed ceilings and a colonnaded terrace facing the Thames. Meanwhile in nearby Victoria, The Broadway by Northacre has invited Italian design house Minotti to kit out its super-sized penthouse (£25mn) with an elegantly urban, understated aesthetic.

Biophilia to buy

Buyers (and investors) are putting sustainability ever higher on their list of priorities. Following in the footsteps Milan’s now famous plant-wrapped Bosco Verticale is Rome’s Fo.Ro. Designed by architect Mario Cucinella, who is famed for his sustainable buildings, and Bosco Verticale’s agronomist-landscape designer Laura Gatti, the 117-unit block (apartments from €314,000 to €2.97mn, through Savills), near the Appia Antica Park, makes biophilia the selling point. Fo.Ro’s undulating organic exterior is immersed in local fauna that will absorb up to 90 per cent of indoor pollutants and autoregulate the temperature.