CARDIFF LIVES
Q&A
D
escribing themselves as ‘creators of lifestyle spaces’, Project One is an award-winning (16 awards in two years!) interior architecture/design and build service. Co-founder and director Dorian Bowen, one of the loveliest and liveliest chaps around, just buzzes with drive and energy, as you’re about to find out... So... where’s home in Cardiff, and what makes it special? Penarth – it’s getting kinda magical! Chez Francis, Fauvette Deli, a bakery, a Michelin star – and that’s just this month! In a nutshell, what does Project One do? We change lives through amazing design and the creation of space, where people grow and families blossom. Why do you describe yourselves as ‘interior architects’ rather than ‘interior designers’? Interior architecture is the new interior design! It’s all about breaking down barriers over things like putting up wallpaper. Interiors-wise, what’s rocking your world right now? Mixed metals. Geometric carpets. Partitions. What sort of projects are you working on at the moment? Project One London launched in September, so we’re taking over Mayfair, but the biggest buzz is SkyFall, our new ‘talking tech’ show space, due to open in spring 2017. It’s a hybrid space with new technology and the best of what we do, seamlessly incorporated into a new way of living.
DORIAN BOWEN The co-founder of award-winning ‘interior architects’ Project One on changing lives, Heinz ravioli and saving a busload of nuns Dream dinner party guests? Jesus, Pontius Pilate and Judas. We need to sort this out once and for all, we need closure...
Karaoke choice? It would have to be It’s Raining Men at a same sex wedding. It’s a stormer!
If push came to shove, what would be your final meal of choice? New York street pizza and fries with Jessica Alba, after my presidential inauguration.
Must-watch television programme? American Horror Story.
If your nearest and dearest had to describe you, what would they say? Hopefully, as little as possible. It’s a small world!
If you could get up on your soapbox about a particular issue, what would it be? The state of politics!
Who would portray you in a movie about your life? Tom Hanks circa Big – on the off-chance that they rewrite my life to have a trampoline in a New York loft.
Who’s the most famous person you follow on Twitter? Sian The Weather.
What’s your guiltiest pleasure? Heinz ravioli topped with melted cheese slices. Don’t ask!
How do you relax? Relax?? What’s that?
What’s the most important lesson life has taught you? ‘Backed’ doesn’t always mean ‘backed up’.
Proudest life moment so far? It’s all about Project One as a lifestyle, so I’d say getting nominated three years in a row at the Global Design Awards last month. It could well be a first!
What’s on your bookshelf at the moment? The 13½ Lives Of Captain Bluebear by Walter Moers. He’s a bit of a genius – the imagination! Try it... Which piece of music always sends a shiver down your spine? Wagner’s Flight Of The Valkyries during the beach scene in Apocalypse Now.
114 I CARDIFF LIFE I www.mediaclash.co.uk
If you had a superpower, what would it be? To eat, drink and have fun without consequence. Best thing about Cardiff? Our evolving food scene – it’s so exciting. Michelin star for James Sommerin in Penarth. Independents in PontCanton. Kas at Waterloo Tea, rocking the status quo with a new evening social concept. Love it! Favourite shop in Cardiff? Fauvette Deli – I think those guys will do something great. Locally, where do you like to eat and drink? Restaurant James Sommerin, Bar 44 and Waterloo tea – the best Friday, Saturday and Sunday on the Penarth map. Secret or favourite Cardiff spot? Alexandra Park on a summer’s day with Channel views – Penarth really is the garden by the sea. Finally, surprise us with a little-known fact about yourself… I once saved a bus full of nuns. By ‘saved’, I mean managed to crash into a tree... For more: projectone.design