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Michaelis Boyd partner Christina Gregoriou advises homeowners and designers to identify awkward spaces early in a project rather than leaving them until the end. She points to a structural column at Miiro Paris, which the team incorporated into a custom seat in a hotel speakeasy, as an example of a constraint becoming a design feature.
Michaelis Boyd partner Christina Gregoriou says homeowners and design teams should address awkward corners, narrow corridors and exposed structural features at the start of a project, not leave them until other rooms are planned. In a Livingetc interview, she described how the firm adapted a difficult structural column at Miiro Paris into a custom seat for a speakeasy, illustrating how constraints can help define a space.
Gregoriou’s advice applies to residential, commercial and hospitality projects, according to the interview. She identifies spaces that can be hard to resolve in a design brief: unused corners, long corridors, awkward nooks and rooms whose layouts change when walls come down and structural elements are exposed. She also notes that renovation work may require a new column to support a building, creating a feature that must be worked around rather than removed.
Her recommendation is to give those areas primary consideration from day one. Gregoriou says leaving them until the end can make them appear like afterthoughts. Instead, designers can look at what the building’s structure and layout permit, then decide whether a difficult feature can become a focal point or serve a practical purpose.
The interview describes one example from the renovation of Miiro Paris, a hotel made up of two heritage Haussmann-era buildings connected from different streets. The team rethought a dark, narrow secondary entrance that had been used for back-of-house functions and windowless meeting rooms. During the strip-out, they found a column that left a small pocket with no obvious use. The designers placed a custom, theatrical love seat in the niche, turning the awkward area into a memorable feature of the hotel’s speakeasy, Gregoriou said.
Planning Around Awkward Spaces Early
The advice has practical relevance for people planning renovations because difficult spaces are often hard to change once a project’s layout and budget are set. Identifying them early gives designers a chance to incorporate structural constraints into the overall plan, instead of treating them as isolated problems at the finish stage.
Gregoriou’s example also shows how a constraint can influence a room’s identity. At Miiro Paris, the column did not disappear; the team designed around it. The custom seat gave the niche a use and helped make it part of the hotel’s speakeasy design. That outcome is specific to the project, but the underlying approach—study the space before deciding what to remove or conceal—can apply to homes as well as hospitality interiors.
The interview does not claim that every awkward corner can become a centerpiece or that doing so will reduce renovation costs. Its central point is narrower: difficult areas deserve early attention because leaving them unresolved can make them feel disconnected from the finished design.
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From Hotel Renovations to Homes
Michaelis Boyd was founded in Notting Hill, London, in 1995 by architects Tim Boyd and Alex Michaelis. The practice works across architecture and interior design, including hotels, restaurants, residential properties and commercial spaces. The Livingetc report presents the firm’s hospitality work as a source of design lessons that can also inform domestic projects.
The Miiro Paris project is the interview’s main example of Gregoriou’s approach. The hotel renovation involved two heritage buildings with separate street connections, and the team reconsidered the role of a secondary entrance that had previously been treated as the less desirable side. Rather than retain its back-of-house use, the designers made the narrow, dimly lit area part of a speakeasy concept.
The source also mentions a bathroom designed by Michaelis Boyd for WOW!house in collaboration with House of Rohl. Gregoriou says the team chose a grand round bathtub as the room’s central feature rather than letting a functional layout determine its mood. The supplied report ends before giving further details about that example, so its design outcome cannot be described here.
What the Interview Leaves Open
The supplied Livingetc report does not provide a publication date, project budget or detailed construction timeline for Miiro Paris. It also does not establish whether the custom seat or speakeasy has produced measurable commercial benefits for the hotel. Gregoriou presents the project as a design example, not as evidence that this approach works in every building.
The source material cuts off partway through the section on the WOW!house bathroom, after Gregoriou describes selecting a round bathtub as the room’s protagonist. Further details about how the team handled that room’s constraints are not available in the supplied text. For any home renovation, whether a feature can be retained, altered or repurposed will depend on the building and its structural requirements.
Applying the Advice in Renovations
The interview offers design guidance rather than announcing a new project or scheduled milestone. For readers considering a renovation, the practical next step is to identify awkward areas during early planning and discuss their function with the project’s design team before the layout is finalized. Structural features should be assessed as part of the building’s requirements, not treated as obstacles that can automatically be removed.
Gregoriou’s examples suggest two possible responses: turn a difficult feature into a focal point, as with the seat at Miiro Paris, or choose a central design element that gives a functional room a clearer identity, as with the WOW!house bathtub. The source does not say what further projects or results Michaelis Boyd will share next.
Key Questions
What is Christina Gregoriou’s main advice for awkward spaces?
She advises designers and homeowners to identify and plan for awkward spaces early, rather than leaving them until the rest of the project is complete.
How did Michaelis Boyd use the column at Miiro Paris?
During renovation, the team found that a structural column created a small, difficult niche. They fitted a custom love seat into the pocket as part of the hotel’s speakeasy design.
Which spaces does Gregoriou describe as difficult to design?
She mentions nooks and crannies, unused corners, long narrow corridors and rooms affected by exposed or newly required structural columns.
Does the interview say every awkward feature should become a focal point?
No. Gregoriou describes possibilities, not a rule that applies to every project. The source does not claim that all constraints can become showpieces or that this approach guarantees lower costs or better commercial results.
What is known about the WOW!house bathroom example?
Gregoriou says the team chose a grand round bathtub as the room’s central feature. The supplied report cuts off before describing further design details.
Source: livingetc.com
