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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 the Miiro Paris hotel renovation, where a structural column helped shape a custom seat in a small niche, as an example of a constraint becoming a focal feature.
Christina Gregoriou, a partner at architecture and design studio Michaelis Boyd, says renovation teams should plan for awkward corners, narrow corridors and exposed structural features early, rather than treating them as finishing problems. In an interview with Livingetc, she described how a column discovered during the Miiro Paris hotel renovation informed a custom seat in a small niche, turning a difficult area into a defining part of the interior.
Gregoriou said that design briefs often contain areas that are hard to use or resolve, including unused corners, long corridors and structural columns. She cautioned that teams who postpone decisions about these spaces may leave them looking like afterthoughts. Her advice is to give them primary consideration from day one, when the wider plan is being developed.
At Miiro Paris, a hotel renovation involving two heritage Haussmann-era buildings connected from different streets, Michaelis Boyd reconsidered the role of a secondary entrance. Gregoriou said the entrance had historically been treated as the less attractive side: 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 its proportions as suitable for a moody, intimate speakeasy.
During the strip-out, the team found a structural column that further complicated the floor plan and left a small pocket with no obvious use. Gregoriou said the designers responded with a custom love seat fitted into the niche. The account presents the seat as an example of designing around an existing building condition, not removing or concealing it. The source does not provide details about the construction work or the column’s engineering requirements.
Why Awkward Spaces Need Early Attention
The advice matters to homeowners because decisions about difficult areas can affect the layout, function and character of a renovation. A narrow passage, an awkward corner or a structural element may appear minor beside a kitchen or living room, but leaving it until late in the process can limit the available design choices. Gregoriou’s approach is to treat such features as part of the brief, rather than as defects to disguise after the main plan is settled.
Her example also illustrates a practical distinction: making a feature prominent does not mean every constraint can or should become a centerpiece. The Miiro Paris solution depended on the size and location of a particular niche and the hotel’s intended atmosphere. For a home, the useful takeaway is to assess what a space can support and how it relates to the rest of the plan before choosing a response. The interview offers design guidance, not a universal formula or a cost comparison.
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From Hotel Renovation to Home Design
Michaelis Boyd is a London-founded architecture and design practice established in 1995 by Tim Boyd and Alex Michaelis. Livingetc describes its work across hospitality, residential and commercial projects, including hotels and restaurants. The interview uses the studio’s project experience to connect large-scale design decisions with challenges that can also arise in homes.
The Miiro Paris project provides the interview’s principal example because the team faced both an existing circulation problem and a newly revealed structural feature. Gregoriou’s comments focus on how the design response changed the perceived role of those areas. The source also mentions the studio’s bathroom for WOW!house, created with House of Rohl, and says the team selected a statement round bathtub as its starting point. The supplied report ends before giving further detail about that project, so its full design rationale is not available here.
What the Interview Leaves Open
The Livingetc report does not give a publication date in the supplied material, nor does it provide project costs, construction timelines or visitor feedback for Miiro Paris. It also does not say whether the hotel’s column or the building’s other structural conditions required particular engineering measures beyond the design response described by Gregoriou.
The WOW!house section is incomplete in the source material: it identifies the bathroom project and the decision to begin with a round bathtub, but cuts off before Gregoriou explains the remaining design choices. The interview also does not offer evidence that the approach will work in every home; the result depends on each space’s dimensions, use and structural requirements.
Apply the Advice at Brief Stage
For readers planning a renovation, Gregoriou’s stated next step is to identify awkward areas at the start of the design process and discuss their role alongside the main rooms and circulation plan. That can help a designer explore whether a space should be reused, reshaped or treated as a visual feature before later decisions narrow the options.
No further project announcement or follow-up milestone is included in the source. The practical questions for any individual renovation remain specific to that property: what is structural, what functions the space must serve, and what changes are feasible. The interview provides a design principle and one hotel example, but does not report a new construction phase or a measured outcome.
Key Questions
What is Christina Gregoriou’s main advice for renovations?
Gregoriou advises identifying awkward spaces early and giving them attention from the beginning of the design process, instead of leaving them until the end.
What happened to the column found at Miiro Paris?
Gregoriou said the column created a small, difficult niche during the renovation. The design team used the pocket for a custom love seat, making it a feature of the interior.
How did the hotel team rethink its secondary entrance?
The entrance had been dark, narrow and used for back-of-house functions. Gregoriou said the team saw its proportions as appropriate for a moody, intimate speakeasy.
Does the interview provide renovation costs or technical instructions?
No. The source gives design examples and Gregoriou’s advice, but provides no project cost, engineering specifications or construction instructions.
Source: livingetc.com
