Architect Chris Lepine is the London-based associate director of Zaha Hadid Architects. Mr. Lepine’s biggest project to date, One Thousand Museum in Miami, reached full height earlier this year and is expected to be completed at the end of 2018.
He’s previously worked on Signature Towers in Dubai, and is currently working on an office tower project that occupies a prestigious site in Hong Kong.
We caught up with Mr. Lepine, 46, to discuss his thoughts on Brexit, why designing amenities is fun for architects, and more.
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Mansion Global: Describe your dream property.
Chris Lepine: It would be a combination of mountains and sea—something on the California coast or the Amalfi Coast in Italy. Some sort of structure hanging over a cliff and overlooking the sea.
MG: What does luxury mean to you?
CL: Being carefree and pampered. Having a beautiful space where you can sit and relax and feel like there’s no trouble in the world. Having that emotional strain lifted, that’s luxury.
MG: What area do you think is the next hub for luxury properties?
CL: In the U.S., you have Miami, New York and San Francisco. Where I’d like to see more is in Chicago—it deserves to have that level of architecture and luxury. It’s the birthplace of the skyscraper, and if I had to wish a place would meet its potential, it’s that.
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MG: What’s the biggest surprise in the luxury real estate market now?
CL: The competitiveness of developers working on these projects. Each wants to outdo the others. Amenities went from being virtually nonexistent to being everywhere, and that’s great because those are places where architects and developers can be creative.
You can be a little bit adventurous. You get to work with the client and have some fun brainstorming sessions.
MG: What’s your favorite part of your home?
CL: The flow of the ground floor and how the kitchen opens to the outdoors.
MG: What best describes the theme to your home and why?
CL: My house is a traditional terrace house. It’s in a conservation area, so you can’t do much to the exterior. We scooped out the entire interior and laid it out so it had a much better use of space. And it brings in the maximum amount of daylight. Before, it was a segmented house with small, dark spaces. Now during the day, you never have to turn a light on.
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MG: Most valuable thing in your home?
CL: My hard drive, with all my personal photographs and work that I’ve done. If I had something to grab it would be that.
But I like the idea of light living, so there’s nothing that’s overly valuable.
MG: What’s the most valuable amenity to have in a home right now?
CL: Health and wellbeing. Anything that stimulates recreation. Also anything that encourages socializing and/or brings people to the outdoors, whether that’s a space to use an outdoor grill or an outdoor running track.
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MG: What’s going on in the news that will have the biggest impact on the luxury real estate market?
CL: In terms of what’s affecting the architectural world, it’s Brexit. It’s created turmoil and chaos within the construction industry. People are wondering what it’s going to look like when London, a real nexus for architectural talent, has to deal with much more regulation.
We’re an international practice, so anything that slows down access to international markets and manpower is a bad thing for us.
MG: If you had a choice of living in a new development or a prime resale property, which would you choose and why?
CL: It depends. If I was the architect on the new one, I’d say that. I’d love to have a vacant lot—a tabula rasa where i could create my own property.