Top Cats Light and Colour Flow Through the Spaces of a Glasgow Penthouse in One Artistic Couple’s Strikingly Individual Take on City-Centre Living

By ALI HOWARD

THINK of penthouses and you might imagine a certain decadent style of city living. In property terms, you literally can’t go any higher. As Richard Gere’s high-flying executive character said in the movie Pretty Woman, he always rents the penthouse because, quite simply, “it’s the best”.

The world looks different from penthouse level; the views from the windows, of the sky and surrounding rooftops, offer an entirely different perspective on a city.

For Simon Magnus, conference and banqueting manager at Glasgow’s ran Mor and his partner Tama Barry, soloist in the Scottish Ballet, the main attraction of their Glasgow Merchant City penthouse was the abundant natural light that such a position offered. Light is very important to Barry, who was born in New Zealand and studied in Australia.

The couple had been on the verge of buying a property almost next door when they decided to have a further scope around. When they walked in and saw the windows of this pad, they knew the place was right for them. Barry likes the fact that the windows bring you close to the elements – rain or shine – and even when it is grey and raining, he feels connected to the outside world. To him, the flat looks very Australian in its design. Magnus agrees that the architecture of the space, in his opinion, is simply beautiful – like nothing else he’d seen before. Both share a love of Merchant City living – everything from the sheer convenience to the melting pot of people and the urban smells from the street.

Inside, it really is the windowed wall of natural light that makes the space come alive. The outside world becomes a feature of the interior, and to develop this further, a bay tree and fresh herbs can be found in the open-plan kitchen-living space.

Cats Pixie and Anastasia wander around like living ornaments and under the staircase is more greenery. Every space is linked together.

The internal split-level design is dramatically united by an oversized curved pillar running through the centre of the flat, in harmony with the aforementioned floor-to-ceiling windows; and the clean lines, strong architectural feel and predominantly pristine white brightness of the wall space is punctuated with bold and dramatic colour and vibrant art.

The injections of red from the sofa cushions, feature wall, entertainment unit and tea lights that run along the windowsill create both a contrast with the cream of the leather sofa and sparkling white walls and a harmonious flow that gently guides your eye to the striking and imaginative Bill Blackwood painting – The Devil And Angels Dance – that dominates this space. For Magnus, the red works brilliantly with the brightness and lightness of the flat and is softly toned down by elements of gothic black, such as the feet-sinking furry black rug.

Move around the curved pillar and you come to a conveniently tucked away dining space with funky clear perspex furniture, the walls of which are painted in a warm, velvet, summer pudding colour of hot pink. The eye is drawn upwards to the first-floor open-space master bedroom, where an altogether different design ethos was the aim: to create what Magnus calls “a sea of tranquillity, calm but also very rich-looking”. With a warm wooden bed from west end shop Colonial, rich bedding by Australian company Sheridan and divinely painted walls in Tuscan olive and putty, the effect is classy and relaxing.

The colour palette throughout the penthouse was no accident, having been carefully planned by Magnus. A former employee of the Royal Household and the five-star Gleneagles resort, Magnus prides himself on being passionate about unity and consistent high standards – in both his professional and domestic life – and would definitely call himself a perfectionist.

The Blackwood painting is just one of several by the artist in this home. The hallway is home to The Treehouse, which reminds Barry of a beach house and is reminiscent, for him, of Australia. Upstairs, The Fallen Angel, an absorbing and intense picture of an angel taking flight from a grotto, is one for which Barry himself posed after having been introduced to Blackwood. It’s a beautiful painting, but leaves Barry torn, he jokes, between wanting to show it off and not wanting to appear egotistical.

The downstairs bathroom is home to a very personal picture painted by Magnus’s dearly departed grandmother – given to the pair as an engagement present from his grandfather – the colours of which stand out boldly against the clean white of the space.

As well as art, Magnus is very into lighting and has ensured it is different and distinctive throughout the home. The main open- plan space is dominated by a grand black chandelier, which works well with the height of the ceiling. Magnus found it in B&Q but likes to joke that it is “French crystal”. The bedroom features, in contrast, an intricate laceeffect black tangle light from Habitat and the dining room is home to a geometric multi-pointed silver pendant light. But at night, the flat comes alive in a very different sense, and cool, hidden blue lighting illuminates the space in a special way. Contrasting elements in a chic, compact space – this is definitely high-rise living of the best kind.

Originally published by Newsquest Media Group.

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