Interior Designer of the Year

The name in itself is a statement, the Danish word ‘festen’ meaning ‘feast’ or ‘banquet’, hinting at the feeling of warmth and conviviality for which the work of architects Charlotte de Tonnac and Hugo Sauzay is known. The pair first met at Paris’s École Camondo school of decorative arts, before going on to become partners both in life and in work and opening a studio together in 2011.

The research process that Festen adopts ranges from private homes to hotels, from installations to stage sets. Together the pair have developed a sophisticated, poetic signature incorporating natural materials, soft shapes and exquisite details, a style with the ability to merge different styles and periods, always with a touch of elegance yet unostentatious, a style that is both decidedly ‘Parisienne’ and in keeping with the genius loci. The Hôtel du Couvent in Nice, a 17th-century convent transformed into a luxury hotel where they have managed to maintain the ‘monastic’ character of the place, is a prime example. Among the private residences that bear their stamp, meanwhile, we find the Verneuil apartment, housed in a Haussmann-style building and offering a new, contemporary take on the most classic of Made-in-Paris interior design. “We are very humble in our work”, they tell us. “We tiptoe into the context and attempt to integrate what we do with great ease”.