The Lakes by Yoo Winter 2024

GLO’s bespoke technology solutions seamlessly integrate into The Lakes’ luxurious settings, offering unparalleled comfort and convenience. With customised lighting and entertainment systems, GLO enhances the ambiance of every room, adapting to the natural rhythm of your day and ensuring cosy evenings are just a touch away. Their expertise in creating intuitive environments means residents can enjoy a home that not only responds to their needs but also anticipates them, setting the standard for signature luxury living at The Lakes.

A417 VISIT OUR SHOWROOM AT COTSWOLD WATERS BY YOO

to the new issue of The Lakes magazine

A year of growth and innovation…

As we embrace the autumn/ winter season, I’m excited to reflect on the remarkable progress we’ve made over the past six months at The Lakes by YOO. This year has been one of innovation, growth, and an even deeper commitment to offering unparalleled experiences to all who visit and live here.

In the last issue of the magazine, we introduced our latest wellness retreat partner, Dr Deepak Chopra. I found his retreat not only personally transformational but emblematic of our ethos – where science and wellness converge in a truly symbiotic way.

As we move into the festive season, our corporate and leisure retreats will embody this vision. We offer something truly special and unique, which is reflected in the growing number of guests who return – whether for an annual retreat, a casual visit to The Lakes Bar & Kitchen, or those who stay for a holiday and then choose to make The Lakes their second home.

We’ve also welcomed Paul Winch, as our new head chef to oversee a fresh era at The Lakes Bar & Kitchen, ensuring it remains a sought after culinary destination for residents, guests and the wider community.

As part of the YOO family, we are proud to have once again topped the list of branded residences globally. This recognition is a testament to our continued pursuit of perfection, from the highest standards of service to the meticulous attention to detail that defines every aspect of The Lakes.

However, the heart of The Lakes are the people who choose to call this place their second home, holiday destination, or gathering place. Through ongoing dialogue with you, we continue to create something unique.

We look forward to sharing more exciting developments as we continue to grow, innovate, and make The Lakes by YOO an extraordinary place to live and visit.

Enjoy!

JOHN HITCHCOX

THERE IS NOWHERE QUITE LIKE THE LAKES

A unique community, an idyllic retreat, a place where like-minded people meet, live, stay and prosper

To understand The Lakes by YOO is to understand much more than just a property. Its uniqueness is not just in its design, not just in the way it looks, not merely in its location. The Lakes is a lifestyle, a community, a meeting of minds. A place for families, friends and colleagues to come together. With luxury homes, cabins, rooms and suites to sleepover in, as well as a relaxing spa, lakeside dining, thrilling activities and 850 acres of green in which to rest, relax and recharge, it is every bit the idyllic retreat.

Nestled in the heart of the Cotswolds, and spread across a wonderful vista of freshwater lakes, meadows and woodland, The Lakes is a luxury sanctuary with a unique connection to nature. It is a great place to share and discover common interests; to play, to learn, to grow, to celebrate, to exercise and to experience so much together. It is rapidly making a name for itself as a genuinely unique destination for those

looking to own a second property, enjoy an incomparable vacation or host a corporate event that will live long in the memory of clients and guests.

We invite you to sample delicious dining in the natureinspired rustic interior of the Lakes Bar & Kitchen, immerse yourself in relaxation, spa rituals, stress shedding and therapies in the Spa by YOO, enjoy a wide variety of leisure activities, or simply breathe the fresh air as you stroll through this delightful natural environment.

John Hitchcox says he channelled the spirit of Swallows and Amazons, the children’s classic in which Arthur Ransome wrote: “It was like exploring a place that you have seen in a dream, where everything is just where you expect it and yet everything is a surprise.”

Experience The Lakes just once and you’ll see where he was coming from.

OPENING DOORS TO THE COTSWOLD’S FINEST HOMES.

Craig Fuller is the Stacks Regional Director and buying agent for the Cotswolds, North Wiltshire, South Gloucestershire, South Oxfordshire, Bath and Cheltenham. Craig has an intimate knowledge of the area, having been brought up as a child in Wiltshire after his family moved from Zimbabwe.

Craig is highly driven, focused and wellknown in the area, with an extensive network of contacts and connections in the property sector and beyond. An effective and successful negotiator, Craig has honed his skills in some of the most aggressive markets worldwide. His clients attest to Craig’s strong negotiating and people skills and his ability to evaluate what sort of offer to put forward. Always working on the buyer’s side, Craig prides himself on advising his clients objectively. “It’s vital to keep a cool head at all times, especially in a competitive market,” says Craig.

Finding a property in a prime market can be daunting at the best of times, and Craig offers support and guidance for those who are time-poor or buying from further afield. “I listen to my clients’ requirements. I aim to offer reassurance whilst achieving a stellar result. I guide my clients from the initial search to completion day, securing the right property that fits the requirements.”

Craig also advises his clients to look at all possible options when it comes to making a new property investment. When moving from an urban area, it’s tempting to replicate something similar on a larger scale, but Craig encourages clients to

consider all options. “There are some superb prime and super prime properties available that have, until recently, been in the same hands for several generations. These stunning homes offer an incoming purchaser the chance to be creative against a solid backdrop of, for example, a period gem within its own parkland.”

With world-class schooling available in the locality, good transport links to London and the Midlands, and the easy proximity to the stunning coastlines of

both Cornwall and Pembrokeshire, a move to the Cotswolds is a profoundly attractive option. Craig firmly believes in knowing the lie of the land - not just in terms of geography but also in local contacts and proven track records.

“We work with all manner of local professionals, from estate agents to solicitors, and have a good rapport with them. It is these working relationships that turn the cogs and ease the transactions. Reliability and transparency are fundamental in our line of work.”

This Lakeside Cabin features a double-height open-plan living area with dining space and an extensive outdoor entertaining deck. Open up the large retractable doors to truly bring the outdoors inside.

Each cabin has been curated by the award-winning YOO Studio who have personally sourced and placed bespoke furnishings, eclectic artwork and vintage finds, giving it that cosy Cotswolds feel.

A Dutch Barn-style rolltop providing stunning and featureful accommodation throughout. This one-of-akind, two-storey home sits on the extended part of the exclusive Lakes by YOO Estate in the Cotswolds. The Rolltop comes fully furnished, with luxurious interiors designed and curated by award-winning YOO Studio,

Perched in a prime location at the northern tip of Newfound Lake, this stunning six-bedroom detached family home offers unparalleled, panoramic views of the pristine waters. With a southern-facing aspect, the property is bathed in natural light throughout the day, perfectly showcasing the breathtaking scenery. The exterior features a striking, burnt timber larch cladding, which adds to the home’s unique charm. Thoughtfully designed and meticulously maintained, the house is a fully bespoke creation by the current owners, who spared no expense in crafting a residence of exceptional quality and style.

COTSWOLDS WATERS

PLOT AND BUILD PRICE: FROM £2,500,000

Stunning four-storey lakeside property in the heart of the Cotswolds constructed of Cotswolds natural stone, sustainable timbers and glass, surrounded by beautiful natural countryside. Superbly presented and well-lit interiors with large, floor-to-ceiling windows.

Third floor features a billiard room with access to a 360° roof terrace. Boasts a spacious principal bedroom overlooking the lake, with four further guest bedrooms, all with lake views and shared balcony access. Underfloor heating throughout.

This 5-bedroom, 5-bathroom brand new house will be the perfect home away from home. Featuring an open-plan kitchen, diner and two lounges its set up provides the perfect place for entertaining. The entrance to this house is impressive, with an open gallery landing, and as soon as you walk through the door, your view over the Lakes sets the scene. Wake up to stunning views of the lake from the master bedroom, before spending your days exploring. This home is perfectly located for those wishing to enjoy the estate’s popular amenities.

The Lakes means business

Perfect for team building, product launches, meetings and corporate events – look no further than The Lakes

The Lakes by YOO is a unique proposition for businesses looking to lead by example. Your customers, guests, colleagues and opinion formers will be impressed. Here are the seven USPs…

SUSTAINABILITY

The Lakes’ commitment to sustainability and eco-friendliness can align with the values of your organisation. Hosting your event at a venue that incorporates energy-efficient features, renewable energy sources and sustainable building materials can showcase your commitment to responsible practices.

PICTURESQUE SETTING

A stunning natural backdrop and beautiful lakeside location. The serene surroundings, lush greenery, and tranquil lakes create a captivating atmosphere that enhances any event.

LUXURY ACCOMMODATION

Luxurious and spacious accommodations for event attendees. A range of high-end houses designed by internationally renowned designers, ensuring that guests can relax and enjoy their stay in style and comfort.

VERSATILE EVENTS SPACES

A variety of versatile spaces allow The Lakes to cater to a wide range of occasions, from intimate corporate development sessions and whole company away days to private celebrations.

EXCLUSIVE AMENITIES

Exclusive amenities add an extra touch of luxury to events. These include exclusive access to the Lakes Spa and Wellness Centre, every field and water activity imaginable, including archery, climbing, paddleboarding and fishing.

PROFESSIONAL EVENT SERVICES

Every aspect of the event is well-organised and executed. The experienced event management team can assist with planning, coordination, and logistics, ensuring a seamless and successful event from start to finish.

PRIVACY AND SECLUSION

A sense of privacy and seclusion make it an ideal choice for exclusive and intimate events. The location away from the hustle and bustle of the city enables an immersive experience that is free from distractions.

Read more about corporate events at The Lakes on page 58, or email events@thelakesbyyoo.com

THINGS TO DO

Experience the beauty of the natural environment at The Lakes, with a diverse range of activities that will get you out and about…and may even get your adrenaline going a little!

Not just for kids, this is a thrilling experience for everyone! After all, there can’t be anything as exhilarating as zipping along a 120-metre steel wire at around 30 miles per hour –slow enough to be able to take in the beautiful scenery across Cotswolds lakes, while still feeling a rush of adrenaline.

ZIP WIRE

CLIMBING WALL

Up, up, up you climb to experience your calming surroundings from a different level. With a choice of three walls, colour-coded for difficulty, everyone has a way to reach the goal of ringing the ship’s bell at the top – whether going at your own pace or racing against friends.

TREE TOP ADVENTURE

Witness The Lakes’ woodland from a new perspective with a high ropes exploration among the treetops. If you’re a thrill seeker with a head for heights, this activity could definitely be for you! While in the air, you’ll work your way along platforms, obstacles and bridges to really test your balance.

TOWER MONKEYS

With games and competitions, as well as taster sessions of the tree-top adventure, zip wire, power fan and trapeze, this is a great value session that is guaranteed to burn some energy! Suitable for both older and younger children, this two-hour session with two qualified instructors will certainly put them through their paces!

Similar to skydiving, step off the top of the Activities Tower, while you’re attached to a wire that unwinds from a fan for a thrilling free fall! During your descent your speed will gradually decrease, for a secure landing on your feet.

POWER FAN

CRICKET

Supposedly invented by shepherds, before being adopted by aristocracy and expanding around the world, grab the opportunity to try your hand at this noble sport with the cricket nets at The Lakes – available to book for an hour of private practice.

FOOTBALL

Wearing appropriate clothes and suitable shoes, meet in the meadow for a fun-filled session. Simply enjoy a kickaround – or step up your skill level with tips and coaching from the on-site trainer.

Whether you consider yourself ace at tennis, or just trying your hand at it, take advantage of the tennis courts at The Lakes – whether it be to better your backhand or simply enjoy a recreational game between friends.

If you’re all ‘fore’ a game of golf, then why not hire one of the golf nets at The Lakes, for an hour of private practice perfecting your swing.

ARCHERY

Adding yet another string to the bow that is The Lakes’ activities repertoire, gather friends and family to take part in this competitive and skilful pastime, using high quality equipment and under the guidance and coaching of in-house instructor, Matt.

GOLF

TENNIS

The Cotswold Pool Company

SAUSAGES & S’MORES

Those aged seven and above can delight in the deliciousness and independence of cooking their very own sausages – and toasting marshmallows – over open flames on the campfire at The Birdhide. Scary stories may be shared too…

NATIVES IN NATURE

Bring your mini-beasts hunters along to find out about all the little creatures living in The Lakes at the creepy crawly bug hunt. No stone or log will be left unturned in the quest to discover the most interesting residents – from Devil Coach Horse Beetles to newts and toads. Your little ones can also learn more about the Estate’s environment on a fully immersive guided nature walk.

BEAR HUNT

Enjoy a charming wander through the woodlands as you and your little ones embark on a Teddy Bear Hunt! (Adults are welcome but not required for children aged 4+). Youngsters will learn about nature and native habitats as they try to spot the bears (weatherappropriate clothing and sensible shoes are recommended). Afterwards, there will be toasted marshmallows!

ADVENTURE CAMP

Kids Club at The Lakes is a full day of activities that could include archery, laser tag, bushcraft, climbing, zipwire, tree-top adventure and woodwork – each day is different. Adventure camp is divided into groups of older and younger children, so tasks can be tailored to their age – farm or craft activities for younger children, more sports and carving for the older ones.

TEDDY

COCKTAIL MAKING

Proving you’re never too old to go back to class – and it be fun – this adult-only workshop allows you to taste your favourite tipples, and build your bartending skills, as you learn how to craft your own cocktails!

WOODWORKING

Chop, carve and whittle your way through plenty of wood as you work. And where better to use natural materials to craft something both useful and creative than out in nature itself?

Brush up on your survival skills by learning to build fires and shelters, as well as how to handle an axe. Games will also of course play a part, such as the web of doom! This workshop always finishes with toasting marshmallows and, if it’s cold, making hot chocolate.

‘ONE OF OUR BEST DECISIONS’

Meet Mark and Michele, a couple who radically reinvented their retirement plans after a chance encounter with The Lakes

It took just 20 minutes for Mark Bradbury and partner Michele to decide to buy a cabin at The Lakes. That may sound impulsive, especially as Mark spent nearly four decades making very carefully considered investment decisions. But far from regretting it, the couple have now also purchased a permanent home here too, snapping up one of the exclusive Manor Farm Barns properties to retire into.

“It’s one of the best decisions we’ve ever made,” says Mark. “It’s a good investment but also it’s a lifestyle decision. The Lakes is quite unique. As soon as you go there you know it –I’m sure there are a lot of people who have properties there who made snap decisions like mine.”

A well-travelled couple with nearly 100 countries under their belts, Mark and Michele were prompted by the travel curtailments of Covid to explore the UK more thoroughly, which brought them to The Lakes for the first time in 2021.

“We first saw adverts for The Lakes around 2010 and

thought it sounded interesting but I was too busy with a tech start-up at the time,” he says. “I sold out and retired in early ‘21 and, as we couldn’t go on holiday, we decided to visit Bath. We saw another ad for The Lakes and they had a show cabin on Marley View, which had just been built so we said let’s go and have a look.”

Mark and Michele met head of sales James Hall, who told them the cabins were going to be advertised that weekend.

“It was a Friday,” says Mark. “We looked around and it was fantastic. We didn’t realise a place like this existed in the UK. I said to James ‘what’s the deal on this?’. He said ‘you can buy it and use it, treat it as an investment, or rent it out – and we run the whole process for rentals’. After 20 minutes we said we’ll buy one. It literally took us 20 minutes to buy a cabin.”

The lakeside cabins on Marley View feature a doubleheight open-plan living and dining space, two double bedrooms, two bathrooms and a spacious outdoor

MARK & MICHELE

entertaining deck with large retractable doors that ‘bring the outdoors inside’. “It’s a mezzanine floor with a bedroom upstairs with a bathroom, a really big living area with a very discreetly appointed kitchen, and a big terrace,” says Mark. “From an investment perspective, those are the places that get rented out first. People want to stay in the cabins. The bigger houses are really for families. It’s a different narrative.”

As soon as their cabin was completed, Mark and Michele began both staying there and renting it out, and quickly discovered the delights of the Cotswolds. “The more we explored the Cotswolds the more we thought this is a beautiful place,” says Mark. “We’d lived for many years in Hampton, near Hampton Court, which itself is a beautiful part of the world, but then James sent me this email saying they were about to launch the Manor Farm Barns…”

The barns are a group of five original historic buildings on

“THE LAKES IS QUITE UNIQUE. AS SOON AS YOU GO THERE YOU KNOW IT”

the north western edge of The Lakes estate, neighbouring the Manor House and overlooking Bowmoor Sailing Lake. Their names – the Bakery, the Piggery, the Shredding Barn, the Warehouse and the Rolltop – reveal the origins of each unique property. Mark and Michele saw the potential, and decided to buy the Bakery, a two-storey stone building.

“It looked very sad, because it was completely covered in ivy, but it came with a nice plot of land, and we resubmitted plans to make some minor changes, not to the overall shape of it, but to make it slightly bigger,” says Mark.

“We had an architect to help us modify the original plans, so it’s quite unique on the inside. One half of it has a glass wall that looks out on to the inside of the old wall. You get the idea. We’ve come in a little bit, and then we’ve gone two storeys up, so whichever room you’re in, you see the stone. It was just an idea we came up with to make it unique, and then the interior design and everything we’ve done from scratch ourselves.

“It’s a unique part of The Lakes, because there’s only five properties on the estate which have 365-day occupancy. So it’s not a holiday home – we decided to come and live here.”

Mark started out as a professional squash player but his sporting career was curtailed by knee trouble, a turn of events which led him to switch into the world of financial

Left and below Each property enjoys privacy and nearby nature, while the large retractable doors overlooking a lake ‘bring the outside in’ to the spacious double-height open-plan living area

“I WOULD DESCRIBE IT AS A DECONSTRUCTED HOTEL”

technology. He comes to The Lakes with nearly 40 years’ experience in starting, working in and running financial solutions providers.

From an investment point of view, Mark says buying property at The Lakes is a copper-bottomed certainty. “They do appreciate, they already have appreciated,” says Mark. “It’s unique, and there are only going to be so many properties. There’s one or two other areas where you can buy property around a lake but they’re not as private. The Lakes is in a different category. I know people who are trying to buy on The Lakes but nobody is in a position where they need to sell. It’s a very protected investment.”

For Mark and Michele, the importance of sustainability is another key attraction of The Lakes. “Hopefully we won’t need to use the grid for anything,” he says. “We’ve got an air-source heat pump going in, all the heating, all the electricity, are generated by solar panels on the roof. With the planning permission, we had to install an electric car charging point – we may even buy an electric car.”

By the time you read this, Mark and Michele should be living at The Lakes – and it almost feels like a kind of homecoming for a well-travelled couple who have both spent periods of their lives living overseas. “John Hitchcox

has created an amazing vision,” says Mark. “We don’t want to feel like we’re living in retirement home, which we’re not. We want to feel like we’re living in a vibrant community, but it’s still peaceful. We’ve got the bar and restaurant, which is brilliant, and all the facilities. The place is alive, and yet it’s quiet. It’s a great combination.

“I would describe it as a deconstructed hotel. You own a beautiful house, but you’re in a private area. You’ve got your own restaurant, bar, you’ve got a farm, activities to do, tennis courts, padel courts, all those sort of things, and concierge services, which are very good but very relaxed.

“I think over the last few years in particular, the landscaping has matured and the houses have ‘disappeared’. We just see trees. You walk around, and you see trees and maybe a glimpse of a lake and maybe a bit of a corner of a house, but you don’t see anything much at all. It’s really quite amazing how everything is blended into the surroundings of good landscaping.

“When friends who’ve never been there before walk in and they look out at the lake, you just see the jaws drop – they say ‘Wow, where did this place come from?’”

At the time of writing, one Manor Farm Barn property, the Rolltop Barn, remains available for sale.

Below and right The cabins have a large living area and a spacious outdoor entertaining deck

Right The Bradbury’s beloved dog Dixie, like all dogs, is welcome at The Lakes

HIDDEN COTSWOLDS GEMS

Residents of The Lakes have the Cotswolds on their doorstep, a place of beauty, history and more than a few surprises

Much of Wychwood Wild Garden was laid out in the 1860s as a pleasure garden to Jacobean manor house Shipton Court. Its Lime Avenue boasts 100 lime trees, some over 250 years old. From the bridge there is a great view of Round Pond and the Cedar of Lebanon, which is believed to be more than 300 years old. Downstream from the original Shipton Court fish pond, which is now home to waterfowl, are the canals which lead down to the River Evenlode, past beautiful waterfalls.

SHIPTON-UNDERWYCHWOOD

CHIPPING NORTON

One of the area’s best-preserved towns, Painswick, is known as the Queen of the Cotswolds and enjoys a thriving arts scene. Another legend lives on here. St Mary’s church is home to 99 yews, which represented death and resurrection in Celtic times. Rumour has it that, if a 100th tree is planted, the devil will appear and pull it out. On the outskirts of the town is Painswick Rococo Garden with a maze, follies and secret grottos.

North of Wychwood lies the ancient site of the Rollright Stones, three monuments made of boulders of Jurassic oolitic limestone. The Whispering Knights dolmen (burial chamber) dates back to early Neolithic times – 3,800-3,500BC. The King’s Men stone circle is late Neolithic – 2,500BC – and the King Stone is Bronze Age, around 1,500BC. Legend has it that the stones are uncountable. If you manage to count the stones three times and come to the same total each time, your heart’s desire will be fulfilled.

PAINSWICK

STOW-ON-THE-WOLD

Legends are woven into the fabric of the Cotswolds. The yew trees at St Edward’s Church, Stow-on-theWold, are thought to be as old as the church itself. At the north porch there is a small door framed by two yews. Its otherworldly appearance is said to have inspired author J.R.R. Tolkien while writing The Lord of the Rings. The Doors of Durin, built into the walls of Moria, formed an entrance to the city of Khazad-dûm.

SNOWSHILL

Film fans may recognise the quaint village of Snowshill from the hit film Bridget Jones’ Diary

During the summer, the fields surrounding the village are filled with acres of flowers. The purple blooms of Cotswold Lavender fill the air with their heady scent and visitors can enjoy treats such as lavender shortbread and lavender ice cream in the on-site cafe.

To the north of the village sits Snowshill Manor, a 16th century house packed with artefacts collected by former owner Charles Padget Wade. His extensive collection includes some 22,000 items, from paintings and tapestries to toys, clocks, spinning wheels and bicycles.

MORETON-IN-MARSH, MISERDEN AND MICKLETON

Gardens are part of Cotswolds’ life. Batsford Arboretum at Moreton-inMarsh hosts a 56-acre collection of trees, shrubs and flowers from around the world. Each of the seasons has something unique to offer.

The Garden at Miserden is part of an 850-acre estate and features a topiary walk, mixed borders, a mulberry tree dating back to 1620 and a 200-yearold sycamore growing through a wall.

Kiftsgate Court Gardens, Mickleton, was created by three generations of female gardeners. Daffodils create carpets of colour in spring while maples provide stunning autumnal tones.

KEMBLE

The Cotswolds is criss-crossed with rivers, from well-known waterways such as the Avon and Severn to lesserknown rivers such as the Churn and Eye. The source of the River Thames is located in Trewsbury Mead – a meadow next to the village of Kemble. Situated downstream on the banks of the Thames is Kelmscott Manor, former country home of craftsman William Morris. Visitors can tour the manor, which is largely unchanged since the designer lived there in the 19th century.

CHEDWORTH

Owned by Gloucestershire Wildlife Trust, Chedworth nature reserve encompasses the ancient Chedworth Woods, home to oak, ash, and beech trees. Hairy violet, wild strawberries and the greater butterfly orchid can be spotted along the former railway line. Look out for tawny owls, woodcock, deer, adders and the silver-washed fritillary butterfly. The reserve is a haven for protected species such as dormice. At the edge of the reserve is the 2nd-century Chedworth Roman Villa.

MEMORABLE MUSEUMS

CORINIUM MUSEUM, CIRENCESTER

An educational and entertaining trip through time exploring the archaeology of the Cotswolds. From prehistoric tools to Roman mosaics and medieval sculptures, there’s plenty to discover.

THE POLICE MUSEUM & COURTROOM, TETBURY

Learn about the history of crime and punishment at this two-floor attraction, established in the 1960s. Explore a replica courtroom and spend ‘time’ in a traditional jail cell.

NEGUS 747, COTSWOLD AIRPORT

This BA Boeing 747 aircraft has been preserved as a museum and events’ venue. It is open to the public for self-guided tours and boasts an interactive grotto – The Flight Before Christmas.

THE MODEL VILLAGE, BOURTON-ON-THE-WATER England’s only Grade II listed model village was built in the 1930s. Stone buildings, streets, market squares and countryside scenes are all faithfully captured in 1/9th scale, giving a unique view of 1930s’ life.

NUCLEAR BUNKER, BROADWAY

Fifteen feet below Broadway Tower is a monitoring bunker, built to study and report the effects of nuclear explosions and radioactive fallout.

Cheltenham Boutique

The Barlands, London Road, Charlton Kings, Cheltenham, GL52 6UT

Bicester Village Boutique Pingle Dr, Bicester Village, Bicester, OX26 6WD

FROM OLYMPIA TO OUTER SPACE

Thomas Heatherwick , one of the UK’s most celebrated and most combative designers, holds forth on the transformation of Olympia, London buses, space-age greenhouses, and the scourge of boring architecture

“I wanted to be an inventor,” says Thomas Heatherwick.

“But there were no inventing courses. They just stuck the word ‘mad’ at the beginning of that word, and then it was thought of like Chitty Chitty Bang Bang. But look where we are now. The startup culture of the last 15 years is all about finding ideas and solving problems. In a way, I feel more connected to that culture, which is starting from problems and then trying to work out solutions, rather than seeing the job of me and my team as being to express ourselves.”

Heatherwick founded his eponymous design studio exactly 30 years ago, since when he and his 250-strong team, which includes 170 architects, have been responsible for dozens of headline-making projects around the world. In the UK these include Coal Drops Yard and Google’s new HQ, both at King’s Cross, and London’s most ambitious re-development, the £1.3 billion transformation of Olympia, a joint venture by Yoo Capital and Deutsche Finance International.

A showcase for global entertainment, emerging talent, and cutting-edge ideas, Olympia is set to be London’s universal platform for every passion and interest. Offering over 30

new restaurants, bars and eateries, a new performing arts theatre, a music hall, revamped exhibition and conferencing facilities and One Olympia, contemporary new offices due for completion in 2025.

“We’re thrilled at the work we’re doing with Olympia, that it’s going to be 2.5 acres of new public space – 39 tennis courts’ worth!” Thomas says. “No one’s been able to walk on the roof of the exhibition hall before, but now we’re going to have this big, long street up there. I hope people will feel that we’re unlocking a bit of London that was dead to us.

“It was about reinvigorating and coming up with reasons that people could come there more. So instead of making it a living place with lots of apartments, which is often the motor behind new developments, we said let’s just think about how we make this a buzzing place of energy.”

As part of the redevelopment Heatherwick Studio, in partnership with SPPARC Architecture, designed One Olympia, a state-of-the-art office building offering the largest terraces in West London. Communal lounges, large scale conference and events facilities, an award-winning

THOMAS HEATHERWICK

Image: Raquel Diniz

wellness and cycle hub and premium flexible working space are all interwoven.

“I love these grand, incredible halls, and I’m always interested in how to amplify the character that’s already there,” says Thomas. “When thinking how could we protect people in an open space, we noticed that there was pleating in some of the pieces of the front of these arches. And then it felt like maybe we could make a third one of these barrels in between. We angled the glass so that the rain could run off and we pleated it not just to imitate the old way of building, but also because it’s more affordable than curved glass.”

The effect of the canopy is to create a huge sense of arrival, to make people feel invited, which encapsulates Thomas’s crusading belief in the importance of how architecture makes you feel. His recent book, Humanise: A Maker’s Guide to Building Our World, rages against a global ‘blandemic’ of boring architecture and heralds a decade-long campaign to reverse it, citing its negative effect on our mental health.

“I feel with so many buildings, we’ve neglected to pay enough attention to the passers by, who aren’t regarded as the customer,” he says. “But actually they are the customer because you shouldn’t be allowed to build in the public realm that we all share, unless it’s giving something back to society. I think we’ve had great disillusionment and separation between the construction industry and the public in the last century, as there’s been huge emphasis on stripping away some of the humanising features. It’s been cheaper to do, but it’s impoverished our world because so many buildings don’t spark any feelings of positivity.

“I wrote the book because it’s become clear to me it’s not that different than the way society was talking about nutrition in food 30 years ago. If you ate seaweed and brown rice, you were regarded as on the edge of society. And now look at us. Everybody is thinking of the nutritional value of food. This is a health issue, not a style issue. We’ve done

HIS RECENT BOOK RAGES AGAINST A GLOBAL ‘BLANDEMIC’ OF BORING ARCHITECTURE AND HERALDS A CAMPAIGN TO REVERSE IT

Above Olympia rising

Right Heatherwick’s cancer charity centre at St James’ University Hospital, Leeds

polling across the UK, and 76 per cent of people say that buildings affect their mental health. Yet there is zero mental health training in the education of the creators of buildings.”

Thomas points out that it costs no more to create interesting buildings than soulless ones. It’s a question of value, particularly when you factor in the environmental impact of regularly demolishing and starting again. “The average age of a commercial building in the UK is 40 years, so if I was a commercial building, I would have been killed 14 years ago,” he says. “The construction industry is responsible for five times the carbon of the aviation industry. It’s a dirty secret.

“We look at buildings in a way like a helicopter shot. In London we judge how tall the buildings are. ‘Oh, no, that’s too tall, it ruins London!’ But we’re not in helicopters, we’re at the ground. And how buildings meet the ground is a

DESTINATION OLYMPIA

14 acres regenerated

Incorporates five listed buildings (Grades I & II)

Newly pedestrianised streets and public realm

£1.3bn investment

Performing Arts Theatre managed by Trafalgar Entertainment

AEG Presents Music Hall and entertainment venue

New Hyatt Regency and citizenM hotels

Co-educational senior school

550,000sq ft of office space

30 restaurants, bars and eateries

Largest office terraces in West : London with incredible views of the London skyline

Refreshed events and exhibition halls and new state-of-the-art conferencing facilities

large proportion of your feelings. So I’m not proposing that the world should become crazy shaped buildings. In some previous eras in history they were making boxes, too, but they made boxes with engaging details that could catch your eye for long enough for you to walk past and feel engaged. It’s no cost to just put the extra love and care into the bottom part of buildings and keep them much simpler as they go up.”

Heatherwick is an original thinker. He’s been variously described as an explorer, an adventurer, a rule-breaker, a game changer, a risk-taker, but sees himself only as a designer (“because you don’t ‘architect’ a building, you design it”). And his scope extends far beyond just buildings. Known for such diverse ideas as the London 2012 Olympic cauldron and the sadly thwarted Thames Garden Bridge, he also reimagined London’s iconic Routemaster double-decker bus.

“I’m very passionate about the infrastructure of cities,” he says. “You could say it’s more impressive to build a tower than a bus, but there are a thousand of these buses. They’re twostorey buildings that just happen to be on wheels. You could argue they are more important for London than any one building, because they’re part of that atmosphere of the city.

“We aimed for comprehensive thinking based around the passenger. We went through every regulation and said how can we meet that with joy? It’s about the quality of your journey. Being five seconds quicker to work matters a lot less than arriving with a spring in your step. I learned so much.”

Thomas sees every project, no matter the scale, as part

‘THERE’S LESSONS IN SPACE THAT COULD TEACH US MORE ABOUT THE EARTH’

spoiled on Earth, and we don’t even realise how spoiled we are; there’s no other planet like it. And I think there’s lessons in space that could teach us more about the Earth.”

of the same big realm, driving the cause of ‘how do we make the world around us better?’ His enthusiasm seems boundless – not even the limitations of the planet can stop it.

“We’re looking at how we can humanise space,” he says. “We’re working with some amazing researchers who have come out of MIT in the US, and we’re looking at how we can design a glass house to grow more species of plants in space because, increasingly, there will be more civilians going into space. We then have the mental health dimension of quite limited spaces. You can’t send big buildings out into space. How do we humanise more confined spaces? We’re so

Such pioneering thinking explains the symbiotic relationship between Thomas and John Hitchcox, which found fruition in the rise of the new Olympia. “I’ve been to The Lakes a couple of times,” says Thomas. “When I first met John, 20 years ago, he invited me down when they built some of the very first wooden buildings, and it was just really impressive to see cross-laminated timber used for the first time to make a building where the walls are made out of solid wood. Those early buildings were machined with sockets and light fittings and everything built into the wood. Now people work with cross-laminated, solid timber buildings much more, and we’re trying to push for that. But John was an early pioneer. It links nicely to Olympia, because the project is a real jigsaw puzzle of pieces that were made off site and then brought together and fitted, which was just very, very impressive.”

To enquire about offices please visit olympia.co.uk

Above Coal Drops Yard in King’s Cross, where Heatherwick turned Victorian warehouses into a 21st century retail idyll

Left One Olympia under construction, viewed through the stunning glass canopy designed by Heatherwick Studio

Images: Raquel Diniz, We Are Narrativ, Hufton+Crow

INTERIOR MOTIVES

We catch up with interior design legend

Kelly Hoppen , who was influential in designing the first vacation home at The Lakes

Award-winning British interior designer Kelly Hoppen, 65, has an awe-inspiring career spanning four decades. The Queen of Taupe has published 12 books and appeared as a Dragon on BBC’s Dragons’ Den Career highlights include being awarded an MBE for services to interior design in 2009 and a CBE for promoting British creativity and business in 2020. We caught up with the busy South African-born entrepreneur to find out how it started, what makes her tick and her influence on The Lakes’ look.

Have you always had a flair for interior design?

I designed a friend’s kitchen when I was 16, but my career took off the following year when another friend asked me to help her design the home of Guy Edwards, the Grand Prix racing driver she was dating at the time. They had both seen the apartment I had bought and renovated myself. Guy’s mansion was in The Boltons, South Kensington, and I essentially did all the work and that was my first real design project. I found builders, resources and other designers that I had met, and I built a business off the back of it. After that,

I got work from Keke Rosberg, another F1 driver who went on to win the world championship. This led to a lot of work coming my way from other Grand Prix racing drivers, by word of mouth. I was young, confident and raring to go.

Can you instantly envisage the transformation of a space in your mind?

Being dyslexic, everything I do is visual. When I walk into a space, I start to see shapes and grids and walls appearing. I can see it in my mind before it’s even done, and when it’s designed I can lie in bed at night and see it and move things around in my head. I have that ability. It’s weird because clients and my other half notice that I can walk into a room and move something ever so slightly and no one will see that it needs to be moved but they agree that the room looks better for it. I can now switch it off when I go into other people’s homes for dinner, unless someone asks me.

Sometimes people say you can’t come over because their renovations or whatever aren’t finished and I think, why on earth not? I mean, years ago I remember having Gordon

KELLY HOPPEN

Ramsey over for dinner and I’d prepared something that was probably revolting and he said, “have you ever used this magnificent kitchen?” and I said “of course” and he then opened a drawer, and every utensil still had the John Lewis tag on it and so I was absolutely busted! So, I do understand.

Which designers have influenced you?

Off the top of my head, I’d say that Christian Liaigre was one of the greatest designers, because his eye for detail was amazing. I often use his furniture books for reference and his studio is still open and they’re still creating extraordinary projects. Also, people from the past such as the architect Mies van der Rohe and the greats such as the American designer and architect, Charles Eames. But I try to be inspired more by nature, music and art rather by people or design.

Is it true that you ask you clients to describe the look/feel they want for a room as a song?

I design to music, and the right music must be playing for me to be creative. There have been clients who are musicians who I asked the question, and they totally got it, and I understood what they wanted in terms of design. I once had a client tell me that they wanted their bedroom to be like my shoes! I understood what they meant by the shape, texture or colour and the very being of that particular shoe. But it’s more about music and if I go to the opera or a concert in my head I’m designing, and I can’t stop because it’s a very creative process for me.

How do you get clients to agree on a project if their styles are completely different?

“I DESIGN TO MUSIC, AND THE RIGHT MUSIC MUST BE PLAYING FOR ME TO BE CREATIVE”

People come to me for my design, and I’ve worked on a cross section of projects, some of which people wouldn’t expect me to do. I will design whatever people want but it will always have the Kelly Hoppen DNA in there. If somebody wants a more traditional design I will give it a more eclectic edge. But if somebody wanted a very traditional home, they probably wouldn’t come to me. My portfolio is very varied and early on it became a brand, although obviously I’ve expanded and done all kinds of different things over the years.

Below Neutrals work as a base for Kelly’s interiors because it’s easier to change things around and add in layers of texture

“I HAVE A MAGIC FOR GETTING INTO PEOPLE’S HEADS AND EXTRACTING INFORMATION”

What is the first thing you notice when you visit the home of a new client?

I have a magic for getting into people’s heads and extracting information. I believe that’s my job and I don’t go there with an ego and tell them what to do. I think you need to have that relationship with clients so that you can work together and be excited about the process. I’m a people person and one of the things I love most is meeting clients and diving into their past and finding things that they can use to integrate into their home so that there’s a history there. And then the lightbulb moment comes when you know you’ve got them, and the process can begin!

You’re quoted as stating that your signature design is always neutral, can you please explain why?

I haven’t actually said that, but I have said that neutral palettes are very harmonious to live in. I love to add colour except in bedrooms which I believe should remain neutral. As human beings, we become bored very quickly and so neutrals work as a base and it’s easier to change things around and I love art, and my clients love art, and it looks spectacular on a neutral background. I’m into the layering of textures which is for me, colour also.

You designed the interior of a vacation house for The Lakes by YOO, what inspired the overall design?

The Lakes was an extraordinary concept, it was about 20 years ago and the project was in its infancy. It was exciting to be in that building by a lake in the Cotswolds where I have had a home for many years, it was a dream come true. For me, there was an element of how I would want to be in it but when you’re designing a holiday home for other people to use you have to imagine the experiences that people will have when they’re in it. And that’s the key for great design – creating experiences and backdrops for people, to be the theatre. So, whether it’s lying on a sofa and not moving for the weekend or having a party or swimming in the lake or cycling, that whole community in the country that was being created was very forward thinking and new. To be a part of that was great and my design was very eclectic with vintage pieces and adding some crazy elements. It was the inside out kind of living and an exciting thing to launch.

The dream has become a reality. When I look at how The

Above Kelly in her studio. “One of the things I love most is meeting clients and diving into their past”

“THE

LAKES BY YOO HAS EVOLVED, THERE’S SO MUCH TO SEE AND DO”

Lakes by YOO has evolved, there’s so much to see and do it’s incredible and so holistic with inspiring guest speakers and workshops for wellbeing. It’s very tangible because people want to feel the earth and be in the country in a community with other families around, it’s just amazing.

Do you approach projects in urban and rural settings differently?

Yes, because every project in every country is approached differently, it’s very much about the client’s needs, how it’s going to be used, and the brief. It has to be international at the same time because other nationalities will use it, so you have to have a worldly way of thinking today.

What is your favourite room in a house to design

When I design a space I want to feel fantastic in every room and each room will evoke a different feeling. That’s what’s important about design – having the flow but equally understanding that every area must have a different feeling.

You’ve designed the interiors of many unique spaces including private homes, hotels, cruise ships and commercial buildings, is there a project that stands out as a favourite?

No, they’re all amazing and every job is as important. The most unusual was designing first class for British Airways because it was up in the sky, but I’ve designed so many unusual projects over the years and that’s what makes my job so exciting and why I’m still doing it.

What advice would you give to your 16-year-old self?

It’s a question I pondered on, but I think I honestly just jumped in and believed in myself, and I simply haven’t stopped since.

What’s next for you?

I guess I’m working all over the world designing wonderful projects. I’m also excited to have just launched an exclusive collaboration of homewares with Marks & Spencer: Luxury Meets Accessibility. The luxurious collection comprises 75 statement pieces blending rich textures and timeless elegance with neutral tones and clean lines to perfectly balance style, comfort and affordability.

This page When designing a space, it’s important that there is a flow between each room, but that every area has a different feeling

SERENITY WITH SCIENCE

Bridget March , Beauty Director at Harper’s Bazaar , experiences The Spa by YOO at The Lakes

As a beauty director with a discerning eye for luxury, I have journeyed to some of the UK’s most exclusive retreats, but few have resonated with me like The Lakes Spa & Wellness Centre at The Lakes by YOO (and not merely because I’m a Gloucestershire local). Nestled within the bucolic embrace of the Cotswolds, to me the sanctuary symbolises the epitome of modern wellness – where cutting-edge science meets the enduring serenity of nature.

Outside and in, the harmonious interplay between the architecture and landscape is striking. Designed with a reverence for the surrounding 850 acres, each detail – from the sustainably sourced materials to the expansive glass walls that draw the eye outwards – reflects a commitment to the environment as much as to the wellbeing of its guests.

The philosophy underpinning The Spa by YOO is a beautiful balance too, being contemporary while rooted in ancient wisdom. Developed alongside global wellness experts, the spa’s offerings are inspired by the world’s Blue Zones – regions known for the longevity and vitality of their inhabitants. It’s this blend of modernity and tradition that sets the spa apart, nurturing the body, mind, and soul.

I’d advise beginning your visit with COSMOSS, the wellness brand curated by Kate Moss (my fellow local!). Having long admired Moss’s approach to beauty, her own wellness

Above The indoor lap pool is perfect for relaxation and recovery

Left Natural colours and textures help bring the outside in

Right Moss of the Isles is just one of the treatments from which you can choose

journey – which feeds into her signature treatments curated for The Spa by YOO – inspires me too. The Dawn Ritual, with its invigorating body brush, ice-plunge, and enveloping infrared blanket, is unique. The combination of rejuvenating cold therapy with the potent, plant-based ingredients in the products leaves skin luminous and spirits revitalised.

Equally enchanting is the Moss of the Isles’ Resilience Retreat; with a choice from a trilogy of massages, each phase attuned to a different aspect of wellbeing. The Quiet phase has soothing lavender and bergamot oils, while the Warm phase, enhanced by heated herbal compresses, provides a deep, muscle-melting release. The Cleanse phase, a vigorous body brush infused with juniper berry and wild marjoram, is a shedding of the old to make way for the new.

For those who prioritise cutting-edge skincare as much as I do, the Dr. Barbara Sturm treatments are a must.

THE ESTATE’S GROUNDS OFFER MYRIAD

ACTIVITIES, INCLUDING WILD SWIMMING AND TREE-TOP HIGH ROPES COURSES

I indulged in the Super Anti-Ageing Facial, and it lived up to its reputation. The combination of thorough cleansing, exfoliation, and Dr. Sturm’s signature lifting massage technique left my skin radiant and bearing contours that I’d believed long lost. The results were instantaneous yet longlasting, and the care taken by the therapist was reflective of the true expertise you can expect from The Spa.

If you’re drawn to the truly nurturing, try the Botany Radical Facial by Wildsmith Skin. The brand’s treatments, inspired by

the principle of circadian rhythm, are designed to align with the body’s natural processes, and in this case incorporate advanced myofascial release and craniosacral techniques to not only grant a glow but also a profound sense of calm and centeredness.

Beyond the treatments, The Spa’s amenities are superb. The state-of-the-art fitness suite, complete with Technogym Skill Cardio Suite and Escape Strength Rig, ensures that guests have everything needed to maintain their workout regimes. The indoor lap pool, bubble pool, steam room and sauna provide the perfect spaces for relaxation and recovery. If cold is your thing, as well as the Brass Monkey Ice Bath, I highly recommend a session in the cryotherapy chamber. With numerous known benefits – from bolstered immunity to better circulation – three minutes spent at minus-186 degrees Celsius feels entirely justifiable for the resulting rigour. And for those who wish to take their wellness outdoors, the estate’s expansive grounds offer myriad activities, including wild swimming in the lakes, an external running trail with outdoor fitness equipment and tree-top high ropes courses.

Put simply, The Lakes Spa & Wellness Centre transcends the ordinary. Whether you are seeking a quick escape from the heaviness of modern life or a deeper, more transformative experience, it delivers on every level. Above Dr. Barbara Sturm treatments are science based and cutting edge

MEETINGS OF MINDS

Not only a great place to live but also the perfect place to do business, The Lakes by YOO is fast becoming the go-to venue for corporate events

Whether you are hosting clients, guests or colleagues, the standards you set define not only your business but the importance you place on providing great experiences. If you create an exceptional event, no one who attends will ever forget it.

At The Lakes, the unique proposition that’s been curated for residents – luxury, character, exclusive amenities, superb accommodation, exquisite catering, peerless professional service, privacy and a deep connection with nature – just happen to be the exact same qualities needed to build a corporate event to remember.

Such is the flexibility of the estate’s facilities, the variety of events it can accommodate ranges from intimate teambuilding retreats to larger-scale product launches, all of which benefit from exceptional planning, management and superb hospitality delivered by the in-house team.

In 2024, The Lakes has hosted a number of successful events. In May, for example, it hosted a leading private equity

The flexibility of the estate’s facilities allows The Lakes to accommodate a variety of events, from intimate teambuilding retreats to larger-scale product launches

firm for a two-day strategic planning retreat for its 80-strong global leadership team. The event aimed to facilitate discussions on the firm’s long-term growth strategy, foster team bonding and culminate in a gala dinner.

The event began with a series of strategy sessions held in one of the many estate homes available for events, followed after lunch by a team-building exercise involving an outdoor obstacle course and problem-solving challenges, fostering a spirit of camaraderie and collaboration. Day one concluded with an informal barbecue with live music and an awards ceremony.

Day two commenced with a guided meditation session and a nature walk around the lake, which helped reinvigorate attendees ahead of an afternoon of strategy sessions to define the year ahead. An elegant gala dinner in the Lakes Bar & Kitchen rounded off the event.

The client considered their strategic retreat a great success.

“STRATEGY

SESSIONS WERE FOLLOWED BY AN OUTDOOR OBSTACLE COURSE AND PROBLEM-SOLVING CHALLENGES”

The combination of structured business discussions, teambuilding exercises, and luxurious hospitality allowed the firm’s leadership to accomplish its goals in an engaging and energising environment. The entire corporate team left with a renewed focus, strengthened interpersonal bonds and inspiration to execute on their strategic plan.

The wellness aspect of The Lakes is a particular USP that adds great mindfulness benefits to the overall retreat experience for colleagues and guests. It works equally well as part of a product launch event, as BMW discovered

Whether it’s a cup of tea during a break in proceedings or a gala dinner, The Lakes will offer you and your clients, guests or colleagues superb hospitality delivered by our in-house team

when launching two new electric models – the iX2 and Mini Countryman – at The Lakes in March. A series of wellness activities, including guided meditation and nature walks, were woven into the three-day itinerary, allowing the 60 guests to unwind and reset in between the serious business of being briefed on, and test-driving, the new vehicles.

Car launch events of this type are aimed primarily at media and influencers, which means a memorable and immersive experience can enhance the quality and scope of coverage generated. The Lakes was chosen for its truly unique mix of modern conference facilities, expansive test-driving routes and premium hospitality, and was successful in generating wide media coverage and a significant social media buzz.

A significant benefit was the synergy between the ethos of BMW and The Lakes, with the venue perfectly reflecting the car maker’s commitment to innovation and sustainability.

BMW is just one of several car makers who have enjoyed great success in launching products at The Lakes in the last year. Others include Jeep, BYD and Lotus, the latter also remarking on the synergies between The Lakes and their brand values. “Lotus drivers are creative, dynamic and

“THE

WELLNESS ASPECT OF THE LAKES ADDS GREAT MINDFULNESS BENEFITS TO THE OVERALL RETREAT EXPERIENCE”

different,” says Lynsey Adamson, who ran the event for Lotus.

“With this in mind, The Lakes was Lotus’ first choice to host its press event. Beautiful, elegant and relaxed, with special bespoke touches too. The location was a huge draw too. Far enough away from London – where our guests live – to feel special and give the sense of an escape, yet close enough to spend quality time on location.”

Aside from its excellent facilities, The Lakes places high emphasis on sustainability in everything it does, which chimes with the zeitgeist of every corporation in 2024. The estate’s eco-friendly design principles, energy efficient features, renewable energy sources and sustainable building materials – not to mention more than 20 EV charging points on site – make for the ultimate venue for our times.

Enquire about holding your corporate event at The Lakes events@thelakesbyyoo.com

A PORTRAIT OF THE ARTIST

Marc Quinn is one of Britain’s most celebrated contemporary artists. We ask him about his work, his vision and his link with The Lakes

The UK’s contemporary art renaissance in the 1990s was a time of experimentation, with themes, materials, installations and ideas pushing the boundaries of creative endeavour. At the forefront of this wave of expression were the so-called ‘Young British Artists’, including Damien Hirst, Tracey Emin, Sarah Lucas, and Marc Quinn. Marc came to prominence in 1991 with his sculpture Self, a cast of his own head made entirely from his own blood. Since then he has blazed a trail of artistic discovery, including the critically acclaimed pieces Garden (a full botanical garden frozen), DNA Portrait of Sir John Sulston (created with the subject’s DNA), Evolution (ten sculptures depicting human embryos in different stages) and Alison Lapper Pregnant (a 15-ton marble statue of the disabled subject for the fourth plinth in Trafalgar Square). Marc’s series of sculptures of Kate Moss in yogic poses, including one in 18ct gold, also received global recognition. In 2024, this creative odyssey led to the triumphant sculpture exhibition Light into Life at Kew Gardens. The show encompassed monumental sculptures in the Kew landscape alongside a gallery exhibition that examined our

complex and often challenging relationship with the natural world. It included newly conceived artworks inspired by Kew’s archives, scientific research and horticulture. These were accompanied by a selection of existing pieces, many of which explored the idea of nature as a fundamental part of humanity. Together, the works explored our common biological origins and reflected on humanity’s capacity to both preserve and destroy nature.

Who is Marc Quinn? What’s your artistic philosophy? I make work which I’d loosely say is about being a person in the world. In other words, it’s art about things that we all experience, or we’re involved with, because art’s really about communication and about finding connections with other people. So what we have in common is what binds us, and it’s in that area that I find a place to make art.

Tell us about your use of the self

My work has a kind of arc going through it, so initially I made works about myself; I suppose, if you’re looking at the world, you begin with yourself. And the most famous work I made in

MARC QUINN

this period was a sculpture as a series going on through my whole life – a series of frozen sculptures of my own head cast in my own blood. So I went to a doctor for a year and had all the blood taken out of my body, and then made a mould of my head and poured the blood into the head, and it was displayed in the freezer display case that keeps it frozen, and therefore keeps it a sculpture. However, if it’s unplugged, it turns into a pool of blood. So it’s a sculpture that’s sort of on life support and depends on infrastructure, which is how all our lives are, but we just don’t realize it.

It’s really a kind of self-portrait of all of us, but it’s interesting, because not only does it look like a self-portrait, and it is in the sense of the infrastructure, it’s also biologically a self-portrait, because since the beginning of this series, the progressions in bio science, in DNA and other things, have made it that the blood that’s used in the sculpture is like a library of my health, my ancestry and many other things.

You’ve often favoured degradable materials – blood, flowers, bread, lead? What are you expressing? Degradable is about keeping perfect an object that should degrade by stopping time. By freezing a flower, freezing blood, you make time more obvious, you make

time a medium that you can use in art. It’s already been used unconsciously in patinas, which change over time on sculptures, for instance. But it’s a medium that you can use consciously in art, for instance, in reflection. If you have a reflective sculpture, you have this bit of it that’s always in the present moment, and when it’s 500 years old, you know that people 500 years ago have seen themselves in this sculpture, which is kind of an amazing thing about the past, the present and the future. And then you see yourself in it, and you know that you won’t be there, but other people will.

As for materials, when you freeze a flower, which should only last a few days and it lasts for months and months in a

Right Marc came to prominence in 1991 with his sculpture Self, a cast of his own head made entirely from his own blood

“IT’S A SCULPTURE THAT’S ON LIFE SUPPORT AND DEPENDS ON INFRASTRUCTURE”

Left Part of Marc’s exhibition at Kew Gardens, the mirrored effect of the sculptures blurs the boundaries between the viewer, the sculpture and the landscape

specially designed freezer, then you’re talking about stopping time and the idea of perfection. But of course, the whole idea of perfection is that perfection is actually sterile, and death and life is about evolution and change. I think art’s about life. It’s a way of understanding the world and a way of communicating with other people, and a way of celebrating the world and everything that’s wonderful in it, and also showing everything that’s terrible in it. It is kind of like life itself, in that it’s terrible and brilliant at the same time.

What were the themes of your Light into Life exhibition at the Royal Botanical Gardens Kew?

It’s really a show about our deep connection to the botanical world, something I’ve been making artwork about for the last 40 years, and this show is a sort of retrospective of that work. But it includes lots of new sculptures as well that were made in collaboration with the scientists at Kew, because Kew isn’t only a garden, it’s a botanical scientific institute with 600 scientists working there. It was an amazing experience, and I’m incredibly pleased to have done the show, and I couldn’t say anything bad about it. It’s wonderful.

How do you know John Hitchcox – what’s the connection? I’ve known John for years. He’s an amazing guy, very

“PERFECTION IS ACTUALLY STERILE, AND DEATH AND LIFE IS ABOUT EVOLUTION”

entrepreneurial, and ‘can do’. It’s amazing what he’s done at The Lakes and everywhere else, and also with Olympia. What he’s going to do there is going to be great.

Where to next?

I’m doing a number of big projects and shows in the next year or two, and that’s what I’m focused on now.

This page The Light into Life exhibition features giant plants and frozen bouquets, showing our deep connection with the botanical world

QUEEN OF THE DANCEFLOOR

Talented, beautiful and incredibly unassuming, Sophie Ellis-Bextor tells us about her journey to become one of the UK’s best-loved artists

The singer/songwriter, author and podcaster Sophie Ellis-Bextor first came to prominence in 2000 with the release of Groovejet (If This Ain’t Love), for which she wrote the lyrics in collaboration with music producer, Spiller. We caught up with the pop star, who has seven bestselling albums under her belt, to talk about her success, her inspirations and her beloved Kitchen Discos and how the movie Saltburn influenced the resurgence of her 2001 top ten hit Murder on the Dancefloor

Are your parents musical?

Both my parents love music, and growing up we listened to lots of music. My mum has a lovely voice, it’s quite different to mine, she’s a soprano and much more choral. I think my dad was a frustrated musician really, because he had an epic record collection and knew the backstory and history of bands and artists, and he’d take me to gigs. The first one was to see Pink Floyd when I was nine years-old and then again when I was 11 – he was determined that I would like Pink Floyd! I didn’t overly appreciate their music until much later.

Do lyrics constantly come to you?

Yes, that’s it exactly, and I’d say that it’s a muscle that I have to keep flexed, because if you’re lucky enough to work in a creative job like mine then it’s a bit like leaving that door open all the time. Everybody probably has that in them, but for me it’s an active part of what I do, especially when I’m working on a new record. I’ll keep my ear to the ground when thinking about things that inspire me and I’ll soak up ideas. It’s actually quite luxurious, because you get to daydream and so I think that making music always connects me to myself at different ages, like a little portal, which I’ve always found to be a lovely aspect of the process. I really like that feeling and I feel very lucky that this is something I can always engage with. When I’m walking, I get ideas for things and if I’m working on an album, I’ll be thinking about the process, including lyrics, production or ideas for artwork.

Did you enjoy performing at Glastonbury?

Yes! Last year I performed on the Pyramid Stage and this year I sang Murder on the Dancefloor during Peggy Gou’s

SOPHIE ELLIS-BEXTOR

Saturday night set. It’s a really special festival and for a pop act like me to get to play on the Pyramid Stage was a big moment for me and my team and those that support us from the wings. I decided to just enjoy it for what it was and to be present in the moment. The sun was shining, the sky was blue, and my band were playing brilliantly. My eldest boy, my sister and her husband and my management were all watching from the side. I’ve worked with my management for 20 years and sometimes you’ve just got to enjoy the fact that the wind is in the right direction and if it never happens again at least I really enjoyed it. It definitely meant a lot to me.

How did Sophie’s Kitchen Disco begin?

It was all about family life and having a bit of fun on a Friday night with a party on Instagram during lockdown. I grew up in a family where I was the eldest and there was always

lots of laughter and looking after my younger siblings. We have five sons and sometimes it’s chaos, but I think it’s mostly happy chaos! I thought that people would take the micky after the first one, with me dancing around in sequins and kids everywhere playing their instruments, but it was well received. It was an emotional time, and we made the best of a grim situation by dressing up and singing feel-good songs.

You always look fabulous; how do you do it?

“WE MADE THE BEST OF A GRIM SITUATION BY DRESSING UP AND SINGING FEELGOOD SONGS”

Opposite page

“I think you have to work out what’s right for your mind and body and do whatever makes you feel good”

Ah, thank you so much! I haven’t been to the gym in quite a while now, I kind of fell off the wagon, but I do keep active with my gigs and running round after the kids and family life in general. I think you have to work out what’s right for your mind and body and do whatever makes you feel good. For me, it’s walking, and I’ve just come back from touring, which can be quite indulgent because at the start of my day I have a few hours before a sound check, and I’ll go for a long walk in the locality, and it always makes me feel better and sorts my head out. And when I worked on an advert for Freemans, it took hours of people getting me ready, so it’s not necessarily the best example of how I look or present myself most of the time! I’m someone who’s always gone with their gut, and I think that collaborations always work best when there’s a general kernel of mutual appreciation at the heart of it. As soon as Freemans approached me, I knew that it was perfect for me. They’re a lovely company to work with, and the clothes are fabulous. If you’re looking for a capsule wardrobe and quality tailoring, they have reliable choices and there’s something for everyone. They’re a great British brand based in Bradford with roots because they’ve been around for over 100 years, and the whole team has a refreshing energy.

How did you feel when your hit song featured in the climactic scene of the film Saltburn?

Even before the film did well, I was flattered and happy for it to be featured because Emerald Fennell is a real talent. It’s not a song about literal murder, it’s more about hedonism and having a great time, it’s always been a celebratory song and more uplifting, if anything. It was such a compliment that she wanted to feature Murder on the Dancefloor because she’s one of those directors who uses music like a character. I was thrilled when everything picked up and the film was a success. The song went viral on Tik Tok and peaked at No. 15 on the US Billboard Dance Charts, which was amazing.

Right The singer regaling fans with hits during Sophie’s Kitchen Disco in lockdown

Who was your teenage crush?

I was all about the indie boy bands of the era like Blur and Oasis, they were my pin ups. Also, it was the age of the classic movie stars such as River Phoenix, Leonardo Di Caprio and Johnny Depp, I had black and white pictures all around my room.

What makes you laugh?

I giggle my way through most days and lots of things make me laugh! The kids make me laugh and I’m a lover of warm comedy like The Inbetweeners or Flight of the Conchords, because I prefer affectionate comedy that’s a little bit silly.

What music are you listening to at the moment?

The Chappell Roan album is brilliant, and I love Olivia Rodrigo’s music. I recently saw Porter Robinson live and he was great. Whenever I’m making albums, I always go back to the music I loved when I was growing up: Fleetwood Mac,

Bowie, Prince and of course Madonna, her songs remind me why I got excited about making music in the first place.

What are you working on?

It’s been a busy year, I’ve just returned from my North American tour and in a few weeks’ time I’ll be heading back to Florida and Atlanta following a gig in Dubai and across Australia culminating in the UK in December.

With all that travelling it must be nice to holiday in the UK?

Yes it is, my husband and I love to take our children during half-term to The Lakes. Richard has this fantasy that he lives in a house on a lake, it’s something he’s always wanted, and I think he is in his absolute element! The houses at The Lakes are so beautiful, and each have their own character, and the space is so cleverly planned. The setting is so pretty, and we have an amazing time; it is the perfect family break.

SUPERCARS ON TAP

The UK’s most exclusive supercar club has opened a club hub at The Lakes, delivering every car lover’s dreams to your doorstep

Auto Vivendi, the private members’ club, which provides its members with ‘fractional use’ of a stunning collection of the world’s best and latest supercars, has chosen The Lakes as its new hub. The move will see an array of fabulous cars being delivered to the club’s existing members on the estate, and open up the exciting potential for the many car lovers among our owners and guests to join up.

The club’s astonishing collection of cars currently includes £8m worth of Ferraris, Lamborghinis, Rolls-Royces… every desirable supercar marque imaginable, and the collection is constantly refreshed to include the very latest models. The club, like The Lakes, sees itself as a community of like-minded people who appreciate not only the finest things, but also know how to enjoy them.

“It’s a club for people who have a zest for life and want that little bit more zing,” says Auto Vivendi managing director Craig Williams. “The cars are always the first reason that people join, but as a member said to us recently, ‘I joined for the cars, but I stayed for the people’. And the people are the key to this business. They are an interesting, varied, cool, fun, nice, bunch of people. They’re not aloof. It’s not about money once you’re in. It’s not about success or ego, it’s just about having a nice time with nice people.”

Craig sees a powerful synergy between Auto Vivendi and The Lakes, which he sensed from his very first visit eight years ago. “We came to The Lakes in 2016 when it was like a building site,” he says. “We brought an Aston Martin Vanquish

down there for our members to use. We were kind of stresstesting our operation to see if our members would go down there. And they did. It worked perfectly and it was a lot of fun. So we introduced members, and we’ve now got two or three members who own properties at The Lakes, and lots of members who go to stay there, myself included. I have always felt this real affinity with The Lakes. I loved what they were doing, I loved the way they did it. I could see what it could be when it was finished, and it’s by far surpassed what I imagined.

“We’ve always tried to build a community around our brand and that is where we are now. We have that community, that interaction, that engagement. And The Lakes has that as well. We did a two-day event there in 2019, where we showcased cars around the lake and around the parking area, and we hosted a big cocktail party in the evening. We must have had 100 people there, and it was absolutely brilliant. And that was before we even got into this thought of having them as a club hub.

So we’ve had an association there for some time. It’s nice that now we’ve kind of formalised it.”

Craig believes that the unique nature of The Lakes means that, unlike Auto Vivendi’s 30+ other hubs nationwide, it could become more than a base; in future some of the club’s cars could be located on site. “We’ve got a couple of members there, and we’ve got a couple of former members who live there, who have properties. And I think if we can get to the stage where we have enough members, we’ll start to leave cars there,” he says. “If residents want to join our club, we can facilitate that fairly easily.”

Craig is keen to point out that, despite the obvious CO2 emissions of high-performance cars, Auto Vivendi is highly focused on sustainability. “We’re not carbon neutral, we’re

“IT’S A CLUB FOR PEOPLE WHO HAVE A ZEST FOR LIFE AND WANT THAT LITTLE BIT MORE ZING”

Previous page

The Dolomite mountains in Italy were the destination for Auto Vivendi’s Drive Tour in 2023

Right Inside McLaren

Artura’s gloriously high-tech cockpit

“AUTO

VIVENDI HAVE LIFESTYLE EVENTS AROUND THE WORLD, FROM MONACO GP ON A SUPER YACHT TO BESPOKE DRIVE TOURS”

carbon negative,” he says. “We plant trees, we buy carbon credits to a higher capacity than that which we use, and I’m not just talking about our car use, I’m talking about any travel, the running of the actual clubhouse, anything we do.”

Auto Vivendi membership has a variety of levels, ranging from 20 days of car use per year right up to 365, and membership also includes member-only driving and lifestyle events. “We have a whole series of lifestyle events around the world, from Monaco GP on a super yacht to our bespoke drive tours that we do in a very unique way,” Craig says. “Members will come and over the tour, be it Croatia, Iceland, Italy, Spain, wherever we may be, we will curate an amazing driving route with unbelievable hotels, really lovely dining experiences with little extra twists thrown in.”

Auto Vivendi’s McLaren Artura pictured at The Lakes

Left

Ferrari Roma Spider pictured by the Manor House pool

SHE’S ELECTRIC

Spectre, the first ever electric Rolls-Royce, recently visited The Lakes courtesy of Auto Vivendi, and should be a frequent sight here in future. Truly a car for our times

The legendary Spirit of Ecstasy mascot has never before looked down from the prow of an electric Rolls-Royce. But although Spectre may offer a different perspective, this incredible car is no knee-jerk reaction to the zeitgeist. In fact, it has been more than a century in the making.

In the year 1900, six years before he formed his eponymous partnership with Henry Royce, Charles Rolls prophesied an electric future for the motor car. “The electric car is perfectly noiseless and clean; there is no smell or vibration,” he said. “They should become very useful when fixed charging stations can be arranged.”

Following this prophetic statement, which was inspired by an encounter with an electric vehicle called the Columbia Electric Carriage, Charles spent the best part of a decade defining automotive luxury via internal combustion. Together with Royce, he introduced the world to a range of smooth and refined automobiles powered by petrol engines with between two and six cylinders. These were the first cars to wear the Rolls-Royce badge that, over the ensuing century, became synonymous with superlative luxury motoring, under evocative names such as Ghost, Phantom, Wraith and Silver Cloud. However, there’s only so much serenity you can achieve with all those explosions going on under the bonnet.

So, for luxury car makers in particular, the dawn of the electric vehicle age could not come soon enough (although too late for Charles, alas, who died in 1910 – the first Brit to be killed in a powered plane crash). But while EV pioneers and early adopters quickly leapt in and made their mistakes,

Rolls-Royce took its time, first introducing a fully electric Phantom Experimental concept named 102EX in 2011, followed in 2016 by the 103EX. Finally, in 2021, the company announced that it had embarked on its first production battery limousine journey, bringing to bear its greatest engineers and innovators, 2.5 million kilometres of testing and years of fine-tuning to achieve what it believes to be the finest EV yet created: Spectre.

Replete with haunting moniker and unburdened by any V12 racket, the car stands for more than the sum of its fantastic parts. Spectre is 5.4m long and 2m wide – “There is no greater luxury than space”. It weighs very nearly three tonnes and, at 23in, the wheels are the biggest on a Rolls for 100 years. There may be only two doors, but they are each 1.5m wide and hinged at the rear (don’t worry, they open automatically). In every imaginable sense, Spectre is huge.

It is a high performer, with a low drag profile of just 0.23cd, can accelerate to 60mph in 4.4 seconds and top 155mph, its four electric motors develop 577bhp (powered by BMW’s biggest-ever battery pack) and it has a range of 320 miles on one charge. The structural rigidity afforded by that 700kg lump of batteries (which alone weigh more than a Mk1 Ford Fiesta) frees up the suspension to major on refinement, while simultaneously cancelling road noise.

Driving Spectre is not actually driving – it’s serenely progressing, with no sense of a road surface involved. Sit on your sofa, fire up a computer driving sim and set it to proceed sedately yet at robust speed, and you’ll get the idea. And while the silent running, instant throttle response nature of EVs may be anathema to many types of car and many styles of driving, they make absolutely perfect sense for

“DRIVING SPECTRE IS NOT ACTUALLY DRIVING – IT’S SERENELY PROGRESSING WITH NO SENSE OF A ROAD SURFACE INVOLVED”

a super-premium limousine. Arguably, better suited to a Rolls-Royce than any other marque.

The car is also loaded with digital tech. Its ‘decentralised intelligence’ processing capabilities make it the most connected Rolls-Royce in history, with engineers claiming to have created ‘Rolls-Royce in high definition’. Yet, a casual glance at the cockpit reveals no prevalence of gaudy tech, no giant colour screens or pastiche fighter jet launch buttons. This is pure, distilled class. ‘Tis a Rolls-Royce, old chap.

“Spectre is perfectly in tune with the sensibilities of our time,” said outgoing Rolls-Royce CEO, Torsten Müller-Ötvös, whose magnum opus this car will surely go down as. “It is the Rolls-Royce that changes everything. It answers a call from the most discerning individuals in the world to elevate the electric car experience, because it is a Rolls-Royce first and an electric car second. It’s the most perfect product that Rolls-Royce has ever produced.”

True to its lineage and in common with all Rolls-Royces, Spectre is made in England – at Goodwood, West Sussex, to be precise. The company located to Goodwood in 2003, building from scratch a facility as extraordinary and unique as the cars that would be crafted within it. Designed by venerated British architect Sir Nicholas Grimshaw, the factory is described as “a meeting place for visionary minds and audacious ideas, where innovation transcends limitation

“A CASUAL GLANCE AT THE COCKPIT REVEALS NO PREVALENCE OF GAUDY TECH”

and motor cars metamorphose into dynamic works of art”. The facility covers 42 acres of the South Downs National Park and sits in an area of outstanding natural beauty, yet it has been created with the lightest touch possible, minimising its environmental impact. Eden Project architect Grimshaw was commissioned with this in mind, as even 20 years ago, Rolls-Royce envisioned its zero-emissions future (all its cars will be EVs by 2030) and needed a factory to match.

Goodwood’s main building is set 2m below ground to blend with the landscape. Its eight-acre curved ‘living’ roof is camouflaged with hardy sedum plants, which provide insulation and reduce rainwater run-off, while timber louvre panels, activated by a roof-mounted weather station, minimise electricity demand by controlling how much light enters the building. Every bit of green waste is composted and 60 per cent of all waste is recycled.

When BMW acquired Rolls-Royce Motor Cars in 1998, it resolved to locate the business in a place that was as ‘quintessentially English’ as the brand itself. West Sussex

emerged as the natural choice, not least because Henry Royce himself had lived out the final decades of his life in nearby West Wittering.

“Perfection is about more than making the very best products,” said Müller-Ötvös. “It is a culture, an attitude, a guiding philosophy. Our founding father Sir Henry Royce said ‘strive for perfection in everything you do. Take the best that exists and make it better.’ Spectre has been conceived within this culture.”

Torsten recently retired after 14 years at the helm, the most successful and longest-serving CEO since Claude Johnson, the man known as ‘the hyphen in Rolls-Royce’ back in 1903. Sit behind the wheel of Spectre and you can see why Torsten might be leaving. His work here is done.

Spectre is one of Auto Vivendi’s collection, and on its recent visit to The Lakes it was accompanied by two more of its stunning cars, the McLaren Artura and Ferrari Roma Spider. Hopefully these cars, and others from the collection, will soon become a more familiar sight on the estate.

“EVEN 20 YEARS AGO, ROLLSROYCE ENVISIONED ITS ZERO-EMISSIONS FUTURE”

A FARM FAVOURITE

Sustainability is at the heart of everything at The Lakes – and the farm, with its rescue animals, and vegetable patch, with organic forms of crop management, is no exception.

With a menagerie of animals – including four goats, sheep, pigs, two turkeys, and around 80 chickens – and a real mix of produce, from peppers and chillis, cabbages and cauliflowers, to aubergines and artichokes – Will Axel-Berg, manager of the farm and vegetable patch, has his hands full every day. “I am down here mostly full-time with the animals – feeding them, making sure they’ve got clean water and that they’re all healthy – and at the veg patch, weeding, planting and potting. And then I try and do a good harvest at least every Friday.”

This selection of harvested vegetables – along with a supply of very popular eggs, freshly laid by the farm hens – goes into the residents’ honesty box, so those that live at The Lakes can reap the rewards of freshly grown food – as it doesn’t get any more local than that!

The growth of fresh, healthy and great-tasting crops literally starts from the ground up – they need an optimal environment from the start in order to thrive and be of the best quality. As winners of the ‘Best Sustainable Holiday Resort for Families (UK)’ award in the Marie Claire Awards, The Lakes recognises the importance of sustainability in this growing process, so they use an organic – and rather entertaining – form of pest management: “Our natural slug deterrent is the ducks,” says Will. “I say, ‘you can’t have a slug problem, it’s called a duck deficiency!’ Yes, we’ve got ducks running around, fertilising soil and eating any pests like bugs and slugs. We avoid any pesticides on our vegetables, instead opting for natural solutions and, as much as possible, keeping everything in-

house. It also gives the residents something to look at when they’ve got the Indian Runner ducks going past, as they’re looking at the vegetables and flowers!”

Another big plus for sustainability practices at The Lakes is that produce wastage is not an issue. “Everything is for the residents; however, if there happens to be a mega surplus amount, it will go to the restaurant… or the pigs may get it first!” says Will.

A number of the older residents on the farm – including two of those aforementioned pigs, Kevin (Bacon) and Frank (Furter) – are also rescue animals. The two younger pigs – Gin and Tonic – albeit not rescues, and now much larger at two years of age, have been at The Lakes since they were piglets. The two rescue turkeys – Charles and Camilla –were ‘extras’ from a Covid Christmas.

Speaking on a future vision for the farm and vegetable patch, Will shares that there has been a plan to have a ‘Farm to Fork’ approach, encouraging the use of local produce. :“I’d quite like to see that progress,” he says. “We’d keep Kevin, Frank, and the others as part of a petting farm, while also developing a main farm where residents can ‘make a meal’ – with fresh vegetables and ingredients all sourced directly from The Lakes.”

Left Will Axel-Berg has many animals under his care, including goats, pigs and turkeys

Left Vegetables grown on the farm, and fresh eggs laid by the farm hens, go into the residents’ honesty box for them to use

THE KEY TO LUXURY TRAVEL

Shy Aviation , one of the UK’s most exclusive jet charter and lifestyle management brokers, is now at the disposal of The Lakes residents

Uniquely combining a global expertise in enabling luxury experiences with a world-leading bespoke jet and helicopter service, Shy is your ultimate travel partner. And thanks to a new relationship with The Lakes by YOO, it can become a personalised concierge service provider for our property owners.

Shy has a dedicated team of lifestyle managers who provide knowledge and expertise, enabling everything from extraordinary experiences to everyday solutions.

“The business started out on the jet charter side but it has now evolved into Shy Lifestyle,” says Shy’s marketing manager Andrew Jenks. “We have an in-house flight management team that works with the operators and the client to make sure that the trip is managed right from the quote request through to the flight landing. And our services through Shy Lifestyle go beyond just the flight. There’s no membership or subscription fee to access those services. We are your 365-day-a-year luxury travel partner.”

Shy’s entirely bespoke personal concierge services range from hotels, villas and yacht charters to securing

Above Luxury travel and lifestyle operator Shy are offering their bespoke services to residents of The Lakes

tickets to global events, fine dining, personal shopping and exclusive experiences. Since the business began in 2012 it has catered for an eclectic clientele ranging from business leaders and CEOs to celebrities, musicians and elite sports stars.

Shy services will be available for Lakes residents while existing Shy clients are introduced to the estate. “We’re looking to take our existing and prospective clients to The Lakes,” says Andrew. “And we’ll be making sure that The Lakes has a direct account manager so that any jet or helicopter requests will have a direct line into an aviation specialist in London. We also have offices in Dubai, and representatives in the US.”

Shy is soon to make accessing its services seamless by launching a smartphone app and a loyalty scheme called Movida operating like an ultra-premium loyalty card.

“The Lakes is such a close fit with our existing audience,” says Andrew. “One or two of our jet clients are property owners at The Lakes already, so it seems like a great opportunity to investigate the uniqueness of the proposition.”

WINTER’S HOTTEST BUYS

Nature’s colour palette may be muted at this time of year, but yours should not, says Caroline Leaper , deputy fashion director at The Telegraph

Why resort to dark and dull outfits as soon as the weather turns wintery? Splashes of unexpected colour – be they olive green or fluoro orange – can perk up even the greyest of days at this time of the year.

The trending pieces for the new season are all designed to elevate our everyday wardrobes. From cosy cashmere accessories, to hit skirt shapes and must-have boots, these are the items to add to your fashion shopping list now…

BOLD BOOTS

The Princess of Wales’s favourite bootmaker, Penelope Chilvers, has opened a new store in Stow-on-theWold. It’s a must-visit while in the Cotswolds, or get the look by ordering her bestselling Nelson style online. The vivid colour combinations pair conker brown with zesty orange, and staple black with hot pink.

Nelson leather boots £279, Penelope Chilvers, penelopechilvers.com

£495, Tove, net-a-porter.com

Erdem’s winter collection was inspired by the iconic Maria Callas. One of

brooches – metallic casts of the stems showered on the soprano after every performance. Pin one to the lapel of your favourite wool coat this winter, to

Spring’s baseball cap revival trend has carried through to winter, and looks just as good. The Scandi label Toteme does a cashmere blend hat in camel, black and grey; consider this the ultimate in luxurious yet subtle style.

Tove’s relaxed dresses are truly timeless, meaning that you will pull them back out of the wardrobe year after year. They are also endlessly versatile and easy to style; try the fluid yet collared jersey Iana dress with heeled court shoes for a pre-Christmas party, or with slouchy flat boots for daytime dos.

Wool and cashmere cap

£220, Toteme, toteme.com

BAGS OF STYLE

The debut runway collection from new Chloe creative director Chemena Kamali was loaded with covetable bags. The Camera style, particularly, looks glossy yet practical and will serve to elevate plaid coats and bundled wool layers this winter and beyond.

SOFT POWER

Mulberry has collaborated with the contemporary womenswear designer Rejina Pyo on a 12-piece capsule collection. The bags are excellent (naturally), but the knits feel equally special – style the draped olive scarf-jumper with jeans for a pub lunch, or dress it up with bold gold jewellery for the evening.

Draped knit top £650, Rejina Pyo x Mulberry, mulberry.com

Camera bag

£2,250, Chloe, chloe.com

Waterproof trench coat, £349, Alexa Chung x Barbour, barbour.com

THE MAC IS BACK

Alexa Chung is back in her Barbour – the author, model and presenter has collaborated with the heritage British brand on a new collection for winter. She wears them all well, but her waterproof trench coat design seems like a particularly helpful addition to one’s country wardrobe during the soggy season.

Cashmere gloves

£95, Begg x Co, beggxco.com

LITTLE LUXURIES

The Scottish cashmere specialists Begg x Co make all of their knitted accessories in Ayr and Hawick, and this year they earned their B Corp status. For Christmas stocking fillers, or just small gifts to self, look at their super-soft beanies, gloves and scarves.

THE STATEMENT SKIRT

The kilt is the must-have skirt shape of the season – Dior’s spectacular fashion show at Drummond Castle confirmed it, and has since inspired endless high street tributes. The Parisian house collaborated with the Scottish kiltmaker Le Kilt; check out the brand, which is entirely made in Britain, to find the very best, and most authentic versions of the trend.

Midi kilt £550, Le Kilt, lekilt.co.uk

CABIN FEVER

As cooler weather settles in, the arrival of a new woodland cabin at The Lakes means even more plans will be possible, says Amber Averre , Head of Activities

We’ve been working on lots of plans, going into autumn and winter – a lot of which revolve around the woodland cabin,” says Amber. “We were excited about our ‘Halloween Spooktacular’, based there this October half-term. Highly decorated, with a fancy-dress party, and a treasure hunt with ghosts and ghouls trying to stop the children from getting the treasure, it’s a nice addition we’ve been able to add this year.”

Painted black, the large, single storey building blends well into the trees, nestling comfortably within the woodland. “It looks like it should be there – and has been for a long time – even though it’s literally been built in the last few months,” Amber says. “It was important that it was as natural and unobtrusive as possible.”

Another thing that’s really important to Amber is ensuring children get to experience the outdoors. “If I had an ethos, it would be giving children the opportunity to be outside and connect with nature – and how important it is that they do that. At The Lakes, our starting point always comes from

Amber Averre is looking forward to Halloween and Christmas activities for children thanks to the new woodland cabin at The Lakes

“NOW WE’VE GOT THE CABIN, WE COULD COME INSIDE TO FINISH OUR NATURE ART OFF”

nature and its benefits to children, along with how good the adventurous activities are for them.”

The addition of the woodland cabin for Activities removes some of the previous weather restrictions. “This will really just enhance the experience,” says Amber. “I often do nature art sessions, where we take canvases out into the woods and do painting of what’s around us. Now we’ve got the cabin, even though we would still go out into the woods, we could maybe come inside to finish our nature art off if it got cold. It also means we can do some of the things we may have only done during summer. Yes, the environment is different in the winter, but it’s still beautiful.”

With craft tables and a large craft cupboard, “it’s completely set up for children – we wanted to give our adventure camp, which is our kids club, a bit of a base – and it’s great to have the option of warming up halfway through an activity, then making a hot chocolate at the end!”

At the cabin, a focal point for all of this and more is its fire pit. Conjure up the cosy scenes – within the warm embrace

of the flickering orange flames illuminating your stunning surroundings, you’re cooking some nutritious food to replenish after a fun-filled day of adventure, settling down with your hands wrapped around a warming cup of hot chocolate, or roasting marshmallows and sharing scary stories – in the Spooky Stories and S’mores activity.

Looking ahead to Christmas, Amber and the team are aiming to transform the woodland cabin into a winter wonderland. “We want a magical, sparkly event with fairy lights. There will be festive stories, a Santa, and a party with wooden reindeer making and a candy cane treasure hunt.”

In addition to being an activities hub for children at The Lakes, the team is also keen for it to be a multifunctional base. “As well as being very practical for all our purposes, it’s also a very aesthetically designed space,” says Amber. “With electricity, a woodburning stove and space for around 40 people, residents can also hire it for parties.”

For all the treasure hunts it hosts, it seems the woodland cabin may become the real gem of The Lakes’ outdoors.

THE TEAM IS EVERYTHING

The Lakes is a brilliant location for your team-building retreat. What does it take to make it a success?

Corporate team-building was always strategically crucial, but it is even more important in the age of remote and hybrid working. For managers and employees alike, the risk of isolation, disengagement and demotivation has been heightened by the disparate workplace in the post-pandemic world.

Office life brings structure, including direct personal interaction, and this gives a subconscious framework on which we can build success. Take the framework away, however, and some stability and cohesion are bound to be lost.

Team-building retreats offer the potential to regroup, to retro-fit some of that lost structure. They also allow the team a rare opportunity to step off the carousel, take a breath and consider

the business from a different perspective. “Often it’s the work environment that acts as a brake on how teams can develop and make progress,” said Melinda Beckett-Hughes from high-performance coaching experts Ayuda Group. “This is where a retreat makes business sense because it offers a genuine alternative, away from the workplace, for people to develop within teams.”

At The Lakes, with its potent mix of assets ranging from meeting rooms to large residential settings, and from versatile concierge catering services to endlessly scalable outdoor activity options, plus a unique, private 850-acre estate to explore, the perfect blank canvas awaits. Here’s what a wellplanned, exclusively curated retreat could do for your team and your business…

BUILD TRUST

It’s not easy to build strong bonds between people who rarely meet. But trust can be built by engaging teams with challenges that focus on working together to achieve clear goals. Communication and leadership skills come to the fore in these situations, and often you discover that individuals have previously unknown and untapped potential. Challenges can be indoors or out, physical or mental (or ideally both) and can be constructed using any or all of The Lakes’ facilities, from the climbing wall to the power fan, the zip wire to the archery range, on the water or in the woods.

IMPROVE COMMUNICATION

Consistent and effective communication comes easier between people who get to know each other through shared experience. One of the barriers to communication is tension around how a message might be received, but a retreat can remove that tension. Why and how to communicate can be taught in the classroom, but on location, in the context of a goal-driven challenge, it comes instinctively.

ENHANCE STRATEGIC PLANNING SKILLS

Setting challenges that demand problem-solving has incalculable benefits for your business. Receiving and understanding a brief, thinking it through, agreeing a strategy, making a plan and executing it are all valuable, and from this process comes leadership, teamwork and selfawareness of one’s own strengths.

DEVELOP CREATIVE THINKING

The best way to get buy-in from your team is to give them ownership of the idea. So, rather than imposing the structure of the corporate retreat on them, ask them to shape it. Brainstorming with the team, pitching ideas into a non-judgemental melting pot, bouncing creative energy off each other, is a fantastic route to giving everyone skin in the game. And remember, shared goals are the first to be lost if remoteness leads to disenfranchisement. It’s a business imperative.

GET TO KNOW EACH OTHER – AND HAVE FUN

Don’t forget that the basic definition of a retreat is a place where someone can rest, relax and reflect. So while it’s important that your event has a definite, measurable purpose, it’s equally important that the team has time to chill, have a laugh together, get acquainted, learn about each other and forge bonds that will translate into positive energy going forward.

Enquire about holding your corporate event at The Lakes events@thelakesbyyoo.com

“Linda

Trinny Woodall, Founder and CEO Trinny London

HOT OFF THE PASS

As incoming Head Chef, Paul Winch is welcomed into The Lakes Bar & Kitchen for the autumn season, bringing with him fresh new menu ideas and sharing his vision for the brasserie going forward

Before joining The Lakes, Paul’s most recent role was at the award-winning country house hotel and private members’ club, Estelle Manor in Oxfordshire. Helping to run the Brasserie at this Grade II-listed landmark from its launch in March 2023, Paul expanded his role to include Estelle’s new restaurant, The Glasshouse. For Paul, an important factor in choosing where to work is the ability to look ahead and see the bigger picture. “I like to see, ‘this is going to be huge; this is going to be the next big thing.’

And when I visited The Lakes by Yoo, I could just see the potential,” he says.

In fact, as of 1 October, Paul has begun tapping into this potential – using his years of experience on an organic farm – to launch a new menu at The Lakes Bar & Kitchen, where he now leads the team. Given the fantastic location of The Lakes and the clientele it attracts, “People want to eat healthily; they want to explore the Cotswolds and go somewhere where we’re cooking from the land, using local produce and championing sustainability,” he explains.

With that in mind, Paul and his team are evolving the offering at The Lakes Bar & Kitchen with a seasonal dinner menu – eventually using produce grown onsite. “There’s a lot of land at The Lakes that can be used for growing,” says Paul. “What’s great about that is you get to see the product through its entire journey, and you’re also using traditional chef techniques that many chefs don’t practice anymore.”

Some of the dishes you can expect on the new menu include scallops in the half shell, and game meats such as venison paired with seasonal fruits and vegetables, like blackberries and beetroot. The pizza oven will be used for more than just pizzas. “We’re going to do Padron peppers and flatbreads, put aubergines in there too – whip that up to make a really nice baba ghanoush puree and serve it with flatbread,” Paul says. “It’s really about seasonality –looking at what’s around us and using what’s there. Then giving people something they can’t really have at home.”

The menu will also retain classic favourites, such as fish and chips and the signature chicken burger – the latter being the biggest seller. In line with appealing to a broad range of tastes, there will be a wide array of vegetarian and vegan options on the menu, along with several fish dishes. And, to cater to the lifestyles and preferences of many guests, breakfast will now be available until 4pm.

“Meanwhile, we’ll continue offering classic lunchtime items from midday, and in the evening, we’ll roll out an excellent dinner menu where people can dress up,” says Paul. “If you’re staying at The Lakes, you can think, ‘Well, okay, I’ll go for brunch at two, and tonight, at eight, I’ll enjoy scallops, oysters, or a big steak.’ We need to differentiate, and it should be about showcasing what we champion

here at The Lakes.” Another opportunity for guests to dress up and dine will be available at Bar & Kitchen events, such as Supper Clubs and Sundowner Sessions, which highlight popular appeal and seasonality.

For Paul, a staple menu item is a hearty pie – possibly as part of a set menu. “It taps into childhood memories and brings a real sense of nostalgia. It’s a nice, warming option, especially in the winter months.”

Wanting to perpetuate the luxury of The Lakes’ experience into the dining space, Paul has introduced a ‘yes culture’ with his team. So, if a customer requests a menu item at an unusual time of day, or even something not on the menu but feasible for the kitchen to provide, the culture will always be to try to maximise customer satisfaction wherever possible. “If we can do that, guests

“THE LAKES IS ABOUT CHAMPIONING LOCAL SUPPLIERS, LOCAL FARMERS, LOCAL PRODUCE”

Above

The unique setting of The Lakes Bar & Kitchen

Left & Right

Flatbreads and scallops in the half shell are just a taste of the cuisine Paul will bring to the table

“IT HAS TO BE AN EXTENSION OF THEIR STAY; GUESTS SHOULDN’T COME INTO THE RESTAURANT FEELING THAT THE DYNAMIC HAS CHANGED”

will leave feeling pampered, loved and valued as individuals. It has to be an extension of their stay; they shouldn’t come into the restaurant and feel that the dynamic has shifted. I don’t want them to relax in the spa only to feel disconnected in the Bar & Kitchen. They need that concept immediately.”

Beyond caring for residents and guests, Paul also emphasizes the importance of supporting his staff. “People work long hours, and it can be mentally taxing –anxiety is prevalent in this industry,” he says. “We need to nurture that as well. We’re nurturing the ingredients around us, caring for our guests, but we also need to look after each other.”

Paul is passionate about inspiring young people to join the industry and training his chefs in all aspects of the business. “We want everyone to be involved in everything,” he says. “And that sends a message that The Lakes by Yoo champions not only local suppliers, farmers, and produce but also local people – by helping them develop skills.”

LEADING PRIVATE HOUSHOLD LUXURY HOSPITALITY RECRUITMENT THROUGHOUT THE UK COUNTRYSIDE

Meet Samantha and Rob, a professional working couple with a young family based in the Cotswolds. They have a large working farm and country house and split their time between here and their London property. Samantha came to Shire & Wold Staffing via a recommendation from a neighbour who had used them previously to find a Domestic Couple. Samantha’s Nanny had recently left and as the children were now a bit older, she was now looking for a Nanny/PA who could support them with all the administration that came with having children with lots of extra curriculum activities.

Samantha said of the Shire & Wold Staffing team: “The consultant came to see me at my house, meet my existing team and took the time to understand what support we needed as a family. They sent us some amazing candidates and we ended up finding the best person who has now been with us for 6 months and has made our life so much easier”.

Shire & Wold Staffing is a leading recruitment agency specialising in sourcing of talent for ultra/high-net-worth, highprofile individuals/households and luxury hospitality venues. With an emphasis on exceeding the ordinary, Shire & Wold Staffing strive to go above and beyond by focusing on both their clients’ and candidates’ requirements, providing bespoke services.

Whether you’re private client searching for an Estate Manager or the Recruitment Manager for a luxury hospitality venue searching for F&B staff our small team of dedicated consultants are ready to help.

Shire & Wold Staffing specialise on searches for:

◆ Family office and operational

◆ Managers - Chief of Staff, Head of Households, Estate Managers, House Managers

◆ EAs and PAs

◆ Butler and service team

◆ Chefs

◆ Chauffeurs

◆ Gardening team

◆ Housekeeping, Housekeeper/Cook/Groom

◆ Nannies/Mother’s help

INTERIOR MAGIC BY YOO DESIGN

This magnificent property at The Lakes was designed for its owners by YOO Design Studio. It perfectly encapsulates the flair, passion and attention to detail the YOO team brings to every project it undertakes

Homes on The Lakes are renowned for their stunning interiors. Contemporary and stylish, they blend luxurious materials and furnishings with a flair for generous use of the space and light the houses are blessed with. Many of these interiors are the work of YOO Studio, the creative hub which has made the name YOO globally synonymous with fabulous design.

The Studio has completed numerous individual residences and hotels across the world, as well as bringing to fruition the visions of creative directors Philippe Starck, Marcel Wanders, Jade Jagger and Kelly Hoppen. This gives YOO Studio a unique design DNA that could only come from working with the world’s best.

Headed by Mark Davison, the Studio’s experience is enhanced by its diversity of more than 20 architects, interior and product designers with big imaginations, providing a choice of looks and styles to suit the lifestyles of today’s discerning homeowner.

Among the delightful examples of YOO Design on The Lakes, a particularly striking example is The Lakeside House, a six-bed, six-bath residence with its own private swimming pool, which set a new benchmark for luxury living on the estate. With expansive grounds and sweeping views, it offers an intimate connection to the serene lake it graces, framed by floor-to-ceiling glass walls that capture nature’s evolving beauty throughout the seasons.

The Lakeside House was custom built for its owners, who worked closely with the architects from the start to create

something very modern while harnessing an essence of Cotswold Lake-side living. Having some dramatic focal points such as the 8m atrium with the equally high interior Cotswold stone wall reaching above the fireplace, makes for a unique and unforgettable arrival space, leaving the visitor in no doubt that they are somewhere very special.

For the YOO Design team, the starting point for the interiors is always the personality and lifestyle of the client, as well as responding to the architecture and its setting in order to create a sense of place and harmony. In the case of The Lakeside House, the owners love to host family and friends and entertain, and their extensive travels, love of music, nature, wellbeing and general joie de vivre, plus an eclectic art collection, were all woven into the style. This resulted in a modern, comfortable yet sophisticated look that mixes a variety of styles and overall feels relaxed and understated with bold and playful accents. Adding character through

This page Size and volume of rooms and the scale of the windows created design challenges, offset by chic fittings, personal touches and fun spaces

conversational pieces & decorative objects was key in creating personalised spaces unique to them.

Being such a large property with many rooms, the design ethos was to adopt a holistic approach – every room is given a unique character, but it is essential for there to be an overall mood, style and palette that connects the spaces and creates a visual flow between the areas. Overall a running thread is rich colours, lots of layers, and textures that imbue a sense of comfortable sophistication.

Even for a design team with vast experience, the sheer size and volume of the house was an exciting challenge. The living spaces span over 9,000sq ft in total and the ceiling height on the ground floor is 3.6m and 8m in the entrance atrium respectively. Therefore choosing the appropriate scale for the furniture and fittings, particularly lighting, was crucial to work with the proportions of the house while also making them cosy and functional.

Given the open-plan style of the house with its huge volumes, expanses of glass and strong lines, it felt especially important to zone and soften the spaces and create a flow between them. The intention was to make each area feel individual yet integrated as a whole, and soften the linearity of the architecture with organic, sculptural silhouettes, layers of textures and focal points to guide the viewer’s gaze.

The vast amounts of glass certainly needed to be considered – and resulted in just under 1km of fabric for the drapes alone. The curtain makers had never worked on a

“THE VAST AMOUNT OF GLASS NEEDED TO BE CONSIDERED – AND RESULTED IN JUST UNDER 1KM OF FABRIC FOR THE DRAPES ALONE”

This page The entrance atrium is 8m high and features an interior Cotswold stone wall. Living rooms imbue a sense of comfort and sophistication

private project of this scale before. Especially the south-west facing areas needed sheer drapery or diffusing blinds to soften the glare of the sun, and the drapery as a whole was essential to soften and anchor the spaces, create privacy and a feeling of being cocooned at night time. An added bonus is that the layers of fabric optimise the acoustics.

The magic ingredient in a home is the mix of the new, the old and the crafted, pieces that show the hand of the maker or a special memory. The house certainly is a quietly eclectic collection of all of the above – a combination of new and old design classics, conversational vintage finds and also pieces from the owners’ private collection that have accompanied them over the years and have special meaning for them.

There are some classic furniture pieces like the super

comfortable L-shaped lounge sofa by Italian brand Flexform, the Poltrona Frau 1919 chair room paired with the Walter Knoll leather sofa in the music room, and Arne Jacobsen Egg chairs that have accompanied the owner for many decades. One of the modern classics are the beautifully handcrafted Drawn dining chairs in walnut timber with a seat handwoven from more than 100m of natural paper cord, by celebrated Danish brand &Tradition.

The oversized, handmade lampshades (in fabric made from the banana plant) above the dining table are from iconic British brand Pinch – a studio that is celebrated for its dedication to craft and process.

The dining table is a custom piece and needed an extra long lorry to get it to its final destination due to its oversized length – the top is made from three 4m long planks of solid walnut with a live edge celebrating the original outline of the tree, all joined with brass dovetails. Porta Romana was chosen for some of the beautiful handmade ceramic and metal table lamps.

Retrouvius, a treasure trove of rare finds, are architectural reclamation and salvage specialists and a reliable source for unique pieces, such as the studio pottery Totem Lamp by Bernard Rooke used in the lounge. They bring salvaged, reclaimed and vintage materials back into circulation, believing that good materials and well-made things are precious. Whether quarried stone or a piece of expert joinery, these objects were hard-won and have an intrinsic value that argues for them to be reconditioned and intelligently reused – a mantra YOO Studio is certainly aligned with.

Powder rooms are always a favourite space for interior designers, as you can have so much fun in these spaces –they are compact and visited briefly so offer a wonderful opportunity for dramatic and bold design details. The silky fabric wallcovering selected for this house is a playful design of a family of frogs camouflaged among golden leaves. Guests can see them peaking out at them from the golden foliage offering an unexpected surprise, while a large brass and glass vintage chandelier crowns the double height space.

The Lakeside House is just one example of the inspiring work of YOO Studio across The Lakes estate, and perfectly encapsulates the Studio’s expertise, which is as rich and textured as the homes it creates. As Mark Davison says, “We know how to deliver unique spaces.”

Creating bespoke artwork is a journey. One we embark on together. We combine our care, creativity, expertise and vision with your ideas and desires. We create sculpture & artwork with you, for you. Art & sculpture should transform the environment it lives in. It should bring it to life. We adapt the style, materials, colours, form and function of our art to beautifully suit your project requirements.

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This page The apartments have fabulous views of Marley Lake that can be seen from the spacious living area while the open-plan kitchen has plenty of high-tech gadgets for easy living

Lateral living

A range of superb apartments form a key part of the versatile estate of The Lakes by YOO

An apartment may not be what springs to mind when you visit the Cotswolds, but Lakes apartments will surprise you. These Tardis-esque homes have three incredibly spacious en suite bedrooms, expansive hall and open-plan living areas, and are perfect for families. Set on the shores of the delightful Marley Lake, these luxurious properties are each suitable for up to six people. Each one has been designed by the award-winning YOO Studio.

The apartments can also be configured into three single rooms, allowing the option to sleep two people for renting. The main bedroom features a comfortable superking bed, while the others can be configured with either a king-size or two singles. Each has an en-suite bathroom with a bath and

walk-in shower, stocked with Wildsmith Skin toiletries.

This is the perfect space for couples looking to get away, with stunning views of the lake from the outdoor terrace. The doors from the terrace open into the open-plan kitchen, diner and lounge area, complete with Smart TV and a Nespresso machine, so you can enjoy your morning coffee overlooking your idyllic surroundings.

For larger groups of family or friends, the space transforms into a spacious three-bedroom apartment sleeping six people. The open-plan living area features a TV and log burner, so it’s perfect for relaxing in cosy and comfortable surroundings, while enjoying the view out to the terrace and across the lake. All apartments are dog friendly, if you want

your canine friend to join you on your break.

Apartments really are a home away from home – all feature WiFi to keep you connected, and are situated close to the amenities, including the children’s playground, the Spa and Lakes Bar & Kitchen, where you can pick up a bite to eat or enjoy dinner with a glass of wine.

The uniquely flexible configuration of an apartment at The Lakes also makes for an interesting proposition for owners. If you choose to rent your apartment out you have the option to split it into individual hotel rooms, and can stay in your ‘suite’ while renting the other two rooms to generate income. It really is the ideal lifestyle/investment proposition –a lakeside escape and a revenue generator rolled into one.

INVESTMENT OPPORTUNITIES & SECOND HOMES

“Apartments really are a home away from home and are situated close to the amenities”

This page From outdoor living when the weather is fine to a cosy log burner for chilly days, the apartments all boast elegant bathrooms and comfortable bedrooms

Gullwing Cabins

Our newly launched three-bed cabins are an exceptional lifestyle investment

With stunning interiors by YOO Studio, each of these highly individual larger cabins offers a charming yet cosy feel, featuring unique hand-picked pieces and artisan-sourced vintage finds. The cabins are being launched to satisfy the ever-increasing demand for the holiday ‘live and let’ market, and represent both the perfect holiday home and also a most attractive investment opportunity here in the Cotswolds. To reinforce the point, some of our existing cabin owners are receiving a yield of more than six per cent net.

YOO Studio has done superlative work to create vivid yet welcoming interiors for each cabin, using a rich and earthy colour palette of burnt reds, chocolate and ochres to invoke the seasonal tones of nature.

Layers of natural texture give rustic flair to this lakeside dwelling, with furnishings including deep velvet armchairs and rustic sofas, eclectic artwork, vintage finds and a bespoke crafted dining table and chairs.

The whole cabin is finished with a full-width glazed

This page The cabins are warm and welcoming inside –cosy in winter but in summer they allow the outdoors in through the full-width doors

frontage that floods the room with natural light, creating a warm and cosy environment in winter and bringing the outdoors inside during the summer months.

The cabins feature three double bedrooms, each with their own private bathroom complete with walk-in shower and bath. The primary bedroom is located on the mezzanine level.

The Gullwing Cabins are located on Marley Lake, overlooking the water, and are conveniently located for all the amenities The Lakes has to offer.

This page By the use of contemporary colours and luxurious materials, YOO Studio has created sumptuous interiors that will make you feel instantly at home

“The glazed frontage floods the room with natural light, which brings the outdoors inside during the summer months”

Cotswolds Waters

Just a mile from The Lakes, the brand new Cotswolds Waters estate offers 128 new lakeside homes and lake-fronted apartments

The Lakes by YOO has proved so popular they’ve extended the concept to create a whole new estate right next door, at Cotswolds Waters. Likely to be the last new lakeside development of its kind in the Cotswolds, this new estate will comprise 65 homes and 63 apartments, each of which is designed to create a uniquely modern and stylish feel.

Surrounded by 110 acres of woodland and meadows, and set around four pristine freshwater lakes, Cotswolds Waters follows the template of The Lakes by YOO as a sustainablyminded new-build estate of idyllic family homes.

The 63 spacious apartments are due to be released soon. Available as fully furnished part-time holiday lets, these

two- and three-bedroom properties offer an attractive investment opportunity to those in search of a dwelling in the countryside, but don’t yet want to give up their city abode.

Overseen by leading contemporary design studio Hawkes Architecture, each apartment has been brought to life in a way that respects its natural surroundings and is deeply rooted into its location. Energy efficiency is key, while local materials such as Cotswolds stone bring a sense of place.

Inside, Pineapple Interiors has created a chic countryside retreat, with spacious open-plan kitchen and living quarters, beautifully-appointed en-suite bedrooms and an additional utility room at the entrance for paddleboards, wetsuits and

muddy boots. Homeowners will be immersed into lakeside living with floor-to-ceiling windows that fill the space with natural light. Ground-floor apartments will offer wrap-around terraces that give direct access to the lake; while second and third-floor apartments are complete with spacious balconies affording panoramic views over the glistening lakes and rolling countryside beyond.

For those in search of a larger property, Cotswolds Waters also has 65 spacious plots for bespoke private homes, each with direct lake access. Homeowners will purchase the plot and then work with the build team and interior designers to select and personalise their home: allowing them not only to

INVESTMENT OPPORTUNITIES & SECOND HOMES

“Surrounded by 110 acres of woodland and meadows, and four freshwater lakes”

Both pages Each home has been brought to life in a way that respects its natural surroundings and is deeply rooted into its location

bring their very own creative vision to life but also financially benefit from the plot-only 5% stamp duty fee.

Each home will be designed in a luxurious, contemporary style, and range from four to six bedrooms: some having three floors with a spacious roof terrace and sky garden; while others will have four floors with an extra top-floor entertaining space. Homeowners wanting more space have the opportunity to purchase multiple plots.

Come and see for yourself. With prices starting at £799,950, Cotswolds Waters will be holding an ‘Open Home’ on 30 November 2024. To register your interest please email callum@cotswoldswaters.com.

SPOTLIGHT ON

Lakeside rentals

Whether you’re with friends for a celebration, family for the weekend or staying for a season, we have your perfect home away from home

COSY

UP IN THE COTSWOLDS

Our cosy rooms are perfect for couples or friends looking to enjoy a shorter stay at The Lakes. Located within our lakeside apartments on Marley Lake, rooms sleep two in a king-size or twin beds, and offer en-suite bathrooms and walk-in showers.

YOUR COUNTRYSIDE BOLTHOLE

Also sleeping two, our garden rooms benefit from beautiful views of the greenery surrounding our Grand Suites and a neighbouring lake with wildlife. Sliding doors open onto a private balcony.

FOR LUXURIOUS SHORT BREAKS

Luxury one-bedroom lakeside apartments perfect for couples looking to retreat to the Cotswolds. An open-plan kitchen and diner, plus an outdoor terrace, all overlooking Marley Lake.

PERFECT FOR FAMILIES AND FRIENDS

Sleeping six adults in supreme comfort, these exquisitely decorated three-bed apartments offer open-plan living, a fully equipped kitchen and a private balcony with lake views.

THE ULTIMATE COTSWOLDS ESCAPE

Uniquely designed two-bedroom lakeside cabins sleep up to four adults, with double-height open-plan living area and extensive outdoor entertaining deck. Open up the retractable doors and let the outside in!

YOUR HOME AWAY FROM HOME

We have four highly individual three-bedroom homes available for rent. Two of them, Northbow Lodge and Richmond Lodge, sleep six adults, while Lakeview Retreat and Heron Lodge sleep up to eight.

WHEN YOU NEED A LITTLE MORE SPACE

Choose from a wonderful selection of four-bedroom family homes, including Longdoles Lodge, Reed House, Brunsmere, Rumah Tasik, The Lakehouse, Lakeshore House, Bowmoor Retreat, Longdoles Lakehouse, Lechlade Lodge, The Nest and Kingfisher Lodge. Some sleep up to 11 people, and all offer lakeside views and access to the water.

LAKESIDE LUXURY MEETS COUNTRYSIDE CHIC

Our five-bedroom rental collection, featuring five splendidly opulent homes, each with its very individual character and all offering every luxury imaginable. Find your Cotswolds dream in Bowmoor Lodge, Mallard Lodge, Sunset House, Newfound View or The Reserve.

YOUR ULTIMATE COTSWOLDS ESCAPE

Sleeping up to 14 people in the absolute epitome of luxurious comfort, each of our six-bed rental properties is a masterpiece of innovative design harmoniously nestled within its natural surroundings – a special place to entertain your family and friends in tranquil, secluded splendour. Choose from Manor House, The Great Escape, Swan Lake House and The Lakeside House.

WHY YOU SHOULD JOIN THE COMMUNITY

A perspective from James Hall , Head of Sales at The Lakes by YOO, on the opportunities for investing in property at The Lakes

From existing properties to new developments planned for the future, now is the perfect time to invest in The Lakes. With a dedicated team onsite, you can plan, build, and invest in your future home away from home at The Lakes. With design by the award-winning YOO Studio, you can enjoy sustainable living in a safe and serene family setting in the Cotswolds. This is an exceptional lifestyle investment for those seeking a second home to add to their portfolio.

Why should people invest in The Lakes by YOO?

The Lakes offers its owners the perfect lifestyle investment opportunity. Our owners have the benefit of an onsite rental management and guest services team to service all needs of the owners and guests alike. Services include cleaning, garden maintenance, use of the spa, and rentals of bikes, boats, kayaks, and more. The rental management team provides a complete, fully managed service to owners who wish to rent out their property, allowing them to benefit from the highly sought-after rentability of these homes while they’re away.

Is now an ideal time to invest?

Real estate has always been a relatively stable investment,

and The Lakes has proven to be one of the most robust and consistent property investment options in the UK. Values across the estate have averaged approximately 8.5% growth annually over the past 17 years. Today, average rates per sq ft now exceed those in parts of Mayfair and Knightsbridge.

What can people expect in terms of returns on investment? With incredible holiday rental rates, several owners now experience NET returns exceeding 6-7% annually. The recently launched apartments and cabins have been very popular with both buyers and guests, instilling the confidence to offer investors a NET guaranteed yield.

Are there any upcoming investment opportunities?

We have recently obtained planning permission for nine additional cabins – a mix of the original two-bedroom cabins and our new three-bed “Gullwing Cabins”. These present a unique opportunity for both investors and those seeking a country retreat. The Lakes will also continue expanding to other sites across the UK in the coming years. The first of these is Cotswolds Waters, a 110-acre estate located only a mile from The Lakes offering a new community of lakefront homes comprising 65 plots, 7 of which have been sold prior to the launch of the estate and 63 lakefront apartments.

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