_The Brudnizki effect: meet the star architect that makes America dream

With each new commercial project that Martin Brudnizki takes on – whether it is designing headline grabbing restaurants such as Sexy Fish in Mayfair, London, hotels including Miami’s Soho Beach House or clubs like Annabel’s in London – the Swedish interior architect needs to get inside the minds and lifestyles of people he will most likely never meet.

In a hotel or restaurant that the customer may visit just once in their life, he can afford to go bold with his design, as seen in the acres of Esmeralda onyx and the world’s biggest coral reef tanks at Sexy Fish as “thrusting, modern and fun”.

He spends time observing people and how they use the space. “You need to understand the DNA, smell and taste it. You have to stay true to the brand and create an environment to have fun,” he says.

Stockholm–born Brudnizki, who splits his time between London and New York (he has an apartment and a Martin Brudnizki Design Studio in each), sees his role as “crafting the experience” for people.

“With hotels, it’s about transporting people somewhere else. With clubs or restaurants, I want people to feel they are in the right place the moment they walk in,” he says.

That desire must be magnified a thousand times when it comes to designing homes – a space where the customer won’t just spend one night but potentially years.

It is easier, of course, if the building is already there to touch, see and feel, as is the case with the one-off houses he designs for clients, or historic building renovations such as The Palladio in Covent Garden, London.

It is another challenge altogether when the project is still in minds and on paper, as was the case when Brudnizki took on his first residential commission in New York, 45 East 22nd Street – also known as the Madison Square Park Tower.

“A private commission for a client is about emotion, which can be difficult. A commercial residence is about who the developer thinks the customer is and how we interpret that stylistically,” says Brudnizki.

“You talk to the developer about who they think will buy and you paint a picture of their lifestyle to work out what the narrative of this development is about.”

At 45 East 22nd Street – a 65-storey glass tower that houses 83 condo apartments, due for completion imminently – that lifestyle revolves around amenities.

“That’s where we do the Brudnizki treatment. It’s all about the atmosphere,” he says of the communal areas, including the elegant reception that leads through to a library with a peaceful garden area.

The scheme also has a hospitality apartment where residents can hold catered events, a gym, golf simulator and half a basketball court.

“It’s about understanding the American mindset – the sports facilities and the price tag give you an idea of who will live in this vertical community,” he says.

Located in the Flatiron District in the heart of Manhattan – an ideal spot for zipping easily uptown or downtown, says Brudnizki - this 777 ft-tall tower must sit happily alongside the area’s classical townhouses.

“We needed to think how to put the materiality of a certain era – features such as the metalwork and cerused oak – into a modern context. The surrounding houses have no sharp corners, sobwe made all the corners rounded in our building,” he says.

“We also needed to think how to terminate the tower at street level. We built a stone plinth, so it looks like an old armoury, with the tower set back slightly. When you walk along the street, you wouldn’t notice there is a modern building there until you look up.”

The apartments come as white painted shells – a blank canvas for buyers.

“I can’t include too much of my personality as these need to be apartments that anyone can take and make their own. You could add very modern or classical furniture and it will look great either way,” he says.

But Brudnizki has designed the fitted kitchens, bathrooms and architectural detailing.

“The bathrooms have beautiful, elegant pieces of joinery and customised taps – something very different to other developments in New York, where it is important to stand out from other new-builds,” he says.

Buyers could also opt for further touches of Brudnizki in their new home as he recently set up a product design business, ‘AndObjects’. “We custom make so many lights and furniture for each project, we thought we’d make it available to the wider public,” he explains.

The key to every building he designs, he says, is to create something that fits the space in which it lives – whether it’s a flamboyant new restaurant in a London garden square or a gleaming glass skyscraper in a historical Manhattan neighbourhood.

Brudnizki recalls an elderly lady who approached him soon after he renovated Scott’s restaurant in Mayfair, London.

“She told me, ‘I’ve been coming here for 30 years and this is wonderful. It’s what it always looked like’,” he says. “That, for me, is the ultimate compliment. It means it fits.”

Discover more about the Madison Square Park Tower new development, find out how Knight Frank can help you buy or sell property in New York or download the latest edition on New York Inside View.