Lightness, Craftsmanship, and Architectural Calm: Flexform Interiors at Grey House, Shanghai
On the wooded edge of Shanghai, Grey House presents classical proportion in contemporary calm. Georgian bow windows set the façade’s cadence and draw light deep into the plan, giving symmetry, scale, and a measured rhythm to interiors conceived for permanence. Within this architectural order, Flexform’s language takes hold: Italian craftsmanship expressed through proportion, tactility, and lasting comfort.
The double-height living room unfurls beneath the sweep of the central bow window. Seating is arranged as architecture in softer form, anchored by the Camelot modular system whose clarity of line mirrors the room’s curve. A grounded palette—oak, natural leather, and hand-finished cowhide—builds warmth and material honesty; surfaces invite touch, edges resolve cleanly, and volumes read at a calm, domestic scale.
Beyond, a smoking room folds atmosphere into ritual. Parker woven partitions set zones without closing sightlines, lending transparency and texture. The Mate magazine holder introduces quiet utility in saddle leather, its disciplined geometry echoing the home’s broader order. Here, craft is not displayed but lived with; details feel inevitable rather than added.
The dining environment continues the architectural rhythm with concealed cabinetry, measured spans, and a restraint that privileges proportion. Storage dissolves into the wall plane, letting table, light, and circulation lead. Materials remain consistent, strengthening coherence from space to space and allowing the architecture—to say nothing of daily life—to carry the scene.
Across the house, Flexform’s reinterpreted icons return with composed authority. The Ginger chaise longue sets a low, sculptural note; enveloping armchairs and finely tailored upholstery provide depth without noise. Each piece holds its line yet yields to the room, intended to age into the architecture rather than sit apart from it.
A sculptural staircase lifts to the private quarters where the pricipal suite overlooks landscaped gardens. Lacquered timber walling tempers light and reflection, framing a retreat of proportion and softness. The material continuity—timber, leather, woven fibres—links the upper level to the rooms below, keeping the whole legible as one idea.
Grey House reads as an essay in longevity. Architecture sets the grammar; Flexform, the Meda atelier, writes in materials and comfort. Proportion, craft, and material intelligence converge to create interiors that hold their poise over time—calm, precise, and quietly inhabited.
