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Michaelis Boyd partner Christina Gregoriou advises homeowners and designers to address awkward spaces early in a project rather than leaving them until the end. She points to a structural column at Miiro Paris, which the studio used to shape a custom love seat in a small niche.
Michaelis Boyd partner Christina Gregoriou says designers and homeowners should tackle awkward spaces at the start of a project, rather than treating them as leftover problems. In an interview with Livingetc, she described how the studio turned a structural column and a small unusable niche at Paris hotel Miiro Paris into the setting for a custom love seat, illustrating how a constraint can shape a room’s identity.
Gregoriou’s advice applies to the spaces that can be difficult to resolve in a renovation: unused corners, narrow corridors, odd nooks and areas disrupted by fixed structural elements. She said these spots are often postponed while the rest of a project is designed. In her view, leaving them until late can make them read as afterthoughts rather than as part of a deliberate plan.
At Miiro Paris, a renovation linking two heritage Haussmann-era buildings with entrances on different streets, the secondary entrance had been treated as the less appealing side. Gregoriou said it was dark and narrow, with limited natural light, and had been used for back-of-house functions, offices and windowless meeting rooms. The team instead saw potential for a moody, intimate speakeasy.
During the renovation’s strip-out, the designers found a structural column that further complicated the floor plan and left a tiny niche with no obvious use. Rather than conceal or ignore it, the studio fitted a custom love seat into the pocket. Gregoriou described the feature as a defining part of the space. The interview also refers to a Michaelis Boyd bathroom created for WOW!house with House of Rohl, where the team selected a statement round bathtub as the room’s starting point; the supplied source excerpt ends before giving further details about that project.
Why Early Design Decisions Matter
The practical point in Gregoriou’s advice is about when a design problem is addressed. If an awkward corner or structural feature is left until the main layout is settled, the remaining options may be limited, and the result can look like a compromise. Giving the difficult area attention early gives designers more opportunity to consider how it might support the overall plan.
The Miiro Paris example shows one way that approach can work: the column was not removed or presented as a technical detail alone; the space around it became a place to sit. For homeowners, the lesson is not that every obstacle should become a dramatic focal point. Rather, constraints can inform a room’s purpose, but the best response depends on the building, available space and the needs of the people using it.
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The Miiro Paris Renovation
Michaelis Boyd is a London-founded architecture and design practice established in 1995 by architects Tim Boyd and Alex Michaelis, according to the Livingetc report. The firm works across residential, commercial and hospitality projects. The article uses the Miiro Paris renovation as a case study of how the studio applies design thinking to an existing building rather than beginning with an unrestricted plan.
The hotel brings together two heritage Haussmann-era buildings connected from different streets. Gregoriou’s account describes a mismatch between the entrances: one had been treated as secondary and assigned service-oriented uses. The team’s decision to rethink that area, followed by the discovery of the column during strip-out, created the specific design challenge behind the love-seat example.
Limits of the Published Example
The supplied Livingetc material presents Gregoriou’s design advice and the studio’s account of the Miiro Paris project; it does not provide independent evaluation of the renovation or evidence about how guests use the niche. It also gives no project budget, construction timeline or technical detail about whether alternatives to the column were assessed.
The source excerpt cuts off during its discussion of the WOW!house bathroom, so the full rationale and outcome for that project are not available here. The date of the interview is also not included in the supplied material. Gregoriou’s recommendations are professional design guidance, not a guarantee that every awkward space can or should be converted into a focal point.
Applying the Advice at Home
The interview does not announce a new project or a forthcoming milestone. Its next step for readers is practical: identify difficult spaces early and discuss them with the architect or designer while layout and use are still being considered. That might mean deciding whether a narrow corridor should remain a circulation route, whether a corner can serve a useful purpose, or whether a structural feature can be incorporated into a seating or storage plan.
Any changes involving columns or other structural elements require qualified professional assessment. The Miiro Paris example shows the studio’s design response to a particular building; the source does not suggest that structural features can be altered without engineering review. More details about the WOW!house bathroom or other projects would depend on further information from Michaelis Boyd or Livingetc.
Key Questions
What is Christina Gregoriou’s main design advice?
She advises people to address awkward or difficult spaces early in a project, instead of leaving them until the rest of the design is complete.
How did Michaelis Boyd use the column at Miiro Paris?
After discovering the column during strip-out, the studio designed a custom love seat for the small niche it left in the floor plan.
What was the original use of Miiro Paris’s secondary entrance?
Gregoriou said the dark, narrow entrance had been used for back-of-house operations, administrative offices and windowless meeting rooms. The team saw potential for a more intimate hospitality space.
Does Gregoriou say every design obstacle should become a feature?
No. Her comments describe an approach to considering constraints as part of a design. The source does not claim that every awkward space can or should become a focal point; the right solution depends on the building and its intended use.
Source: livingetc.com
