From finance to interior design, she deftly balances creativity with the precision of project management. Drawing inspiration from London’s rich architectural tapestry, she crafts luxury homes that marry timelessness with practicality. Sustainability, AI, and the art of making every space as livable as it is luxurious are just some of the key topics she explores.
On Cultural Influences: “London’s diversity isn’t just a backdrop; it enriches the design. Cultural nuances elevate spaces, making them personal and unique, never diluted. It’s not just about aesthetics; it’s about depth.”
On Breaking Design Rules: “Luxury should never be bound by neutral tones. Embrace bold colours, sculptural forms, and dramatic lighting. Design needs personality, not the predictability of minimalism.”
On Working with Period Properties: “Period homes require a delicate balance preserving charm while making them functional for modern living. Heritage must work with practicality, not at the expense of family needs.”
On Sustainability: “Sustainability has evolved from a luxury to a necessity. Clients now seek enduring quality over transient trends, favouring pieces that will last over the quick-fix, disposable culture.”
On AI in Interior Design: “AI can enhance efficiency, but it can’t replace the human touch. Design is about intuition and emotional intelligence. AI lacks the understanding of how spaces make people feel.”
On Collaborating with FCI London: “FCI London offers precision and quality. Their curated selection of bespoke pieces fits seamlessly into my vision, combining functionality and style, ensuring impeccable execution.”
Explore 30,000 sq. ft. of luxury interiors with over 700 world-class brands, expertly guided by our design team, every step of the way.
Book Your VisitImke Du Toit
Hello and welcome to the FCI London podcast where we sit down with some of London's most influential luxury designers to explore their stories and the inspiration behind their work. I'm your host Imke Du Toit and today I'm joined by a designer whose work embodies the essence of liveable luxury. Rhahat Syed founder of Interiorize, leads a boutique North London studio known for refined, practical and deeply personal residential interiors.
With a qualification from KLC School of Design, she received the award for Textile Research and Application. Rhahat blends creative sensitivity with the structured project management discipline she honed during her earlier career in the financial sector. Her work is rooted in functionality, flow, and car material harmony, all shaped by her African Asian heritage and her love for London's architectural diversity. Rhahat it is an absolute pleasure to have you here today.
Welcome to the podcast.
Rhahat Syed
Thank you so much, Imke Thank you for inviting me to be here as part of your podcast series. It's a real pleasure.
Imke Du Toit
It's absolutely wonderful to have you here. Well, let's just jump straight in. It's just a nice casual conversation to really find out what happens behind your work and to really just dive in, to look at the designer behind Interiorize. So you swapped the financial sector for interior design. mean, that's a move not many would dare make. And then looking back, was that more about escaping corporate life or would you say it's more about answering a creative calling?
Rhahat Syed
It's an interesting one actually. At the time, I didn't think I was answering a creative calling. I worked in the city for many years. I enjoyed the fast pace, the energy, the pressure. And I think at the time, it was more about a change in pace for myself, a new chapter almost. I just had my second little boy and I had the opportunity to sort of...
and really think about how I wanted to, you know, shape my next chapter, my future career aspirations. So I was quite blessed in that I had the opportunity to do that. And, you know, if somebody was to ask me today, was it my cultural calling? I feel as if I was always meant to belong in this space. You know, I love being an interior designer. I took...
Imke Du Toit
Yeah.
Rhahat Syed
a very long winded route to get here, but I feel, you know, all those little skills that I, major skills I developed along the way have all contributed to the designer I am.
Imke Du Toit
Hello.
Rhahat Syed
the designer I am today, you know, I sort of, when you think about the project life cycle of a design project, you have to have your creative hat on. You know, you have to have your analyst hat on. You have to have your project management hat on. And I remember a tutor actually at KLC saying to me, Rhahat, you've just got to let yourself go. And I think that was, you know, I was so structured and so process driven.
Imke Du Toit
Thank
Thank
Rhahat Syed
And I feel that was the missing puzzle for me with regard to being a designer. I just had to let my creative juices flow and be sort of less in control and less structured. And, you know, it finally clicked and it finally made sense. So I feel that was the that was the missing part of the puzzle. Yeah.
Imke Du Toit
Yeah, That's amazing. And it's also, I mean, like, as you mentioned as well, there's multiple hats, multiple skills, and it's fantastic that there are really wonderful skills that you've honed from coming from the financial sector, project management sector as well. And having that combined with the creativity really does create quite a powerhouse designer. it's really, and as you said as well, having a mentor to say, you need to just calm, not be too rigid or that
structured and allowing that creativity to flow, I can imagine would have opened up such a world of different possibilities for you as a designer as well, is fantastic. Does the industry ever pressure you to tone down cultural references to fit the, let's say, so classic London aesthetic?
Rhahat Syed
Absolutely.
Yeah, it's an interesting tension. feel, you know, there is a perception that London interiors should be calm, should be neutral, should be paid back. But actually London's strength is in its global diversity. You know, we have clients from, you know, really diverse backgrounds, rich heritage, layered histories. And I actually feel it's a design asset to be able to...
Imke Du Toit
school.
Rhahat Syed
incorporate those nuances into your design. You know, it's what makes a design unique. It's what gives it personality, what gives it warmth. You know, it's unique to that client. So actually, I've never felt the pressure to tone down my interiors. They're always considered, you know, but being able to...
balance those cultural nuances is a personal challenge to me. I think it's a wonderful thing to do.
Imke Du Toit
Absolutely. No, it's also, I guess it also brings, it's good to bring people's heritage and backgrounds, know, cultural backgrounds into it as well. So I think I absolutely agree with you. It's finding that balance, of course. You know, if a client hired you to break every unwritten rule of, let's say, good taste in luxury design, I mean, which one would you smash first?
Rhahat Syed
Yes, I think it sort of touches upon what I've mentioned already. I'd want to break the myth of luxury design has to be neutral, know, it has to be paired back. There's always almost, you know, perception that...
interiors have to have a quiet minimalism to feel sophisticated. But I don't think that's the case. The rule I would break is don't stay in the safe zone. Embrace color, embrace pattern, embrace sculptural forms.
Imke Du Toit
Sure.
Rhahat Syed
embrace dramatic lighting. know, those are all elements that I consider in my designs to really bring, you know, personality, uniqueness. I love using color, but you know, it's always in a cohesive, considered manner.
Imke Du Toit
sure, I agree. As again, as you said as well, it is balancing the things that I love what you say, try and get out of the comfort zone think a lot of the time we all get very sucked into following trends or getting stuck in something that's very, very comfortable and trying to break those barriers and I think that's fantastic that you try and get your clients also to get a little bit out of their comfort zones in that way and not to be afraid to take those risks.
Rhahat Syed
I can't do it.
Imke Du Toit
and something as you said mentioned earlier
Your structured project management background, I mean, it's quite rare within this industry. Does it make you the calmest person in the room or the most impatient?
Rhahat Syed
I have to say.
Yeah, I'd like to think I'm sort of calm and patient most of the times. I need my team to verify that no, I think it makes me more organized for sure. It's a skill that's often overlooked by clients, you know, and it's very inherent, should I say, to the design process. You know, I've already mentioned we have to wear, you know, lots of hats in the life cycle of the project those skills, know, be it the logistics, be it the procurement, be it the budget, you know, being get the communication with your contractors or your clients, you know, we all have to operate within a framework of planning of structure of budgeting and
Imke Du Toit
course
Rhahat Syed
I'm thankful for those skills and the fact that I've had the ability to experience those and apply those to my projects almost innately because of my experience. You know, I have friends, colleagues, peers in the industry who find certain aspects of, you know, the design cycle challenging, be it the technical aspects, be it the project management aspects. You know, they are skills that you definitely have
to embrace and definitely have to develop. it is a challenge and of course as your practice grows you know you can hire people for those specialities but I think when you're a boutique studio and you know you're or you're a growing studio then it's important to understand those skills and absolutely incorporate them into your design practice.
Imke Du Toit
Yes.
And as you said, as well as what you've seen, you know, within real time with different colleagues and things, we, think you find that your skills are so vitally important and a massive part in what you do, especially as creatives as well think sometimes I myself am a creative as well. I do understand that as well where the potentially the creativity just goes a hundred miles an hour. And sometimes you need those other skills to hold that back again and find the structure. Cause ultimately the project needs
to still continue and have that structure there. So, but that's great. So let's move on a little bit to look at, you know, design philosophy, taste and the realities of, you know, client work.
Does one design principle you stubbornly defend even when clients try to resist it?
Rhahat Syed
I think I would defend letting a room breathe. You you have to have space for stillness. You have to have space for calmness. There's a tendency sometimes with clients to want to fill every single space of a room. You know, that corner needs to be interesting. That wall needs to be interesting. And I think there's a real place for...
Imke Du Toit
Yeah.
Rhahat Syed
defending the ability to create intentional space, to create intentional calm. I think sometimes, you know, a little bit of restraint goes a long way. It's what creates the timelessness. what's...
creates the ability then to appreciate the other pieces that you have in the room, the different elements. So absolutely, sometimes I think you need to pull it back to be able to appreciate the larger picture.
Imke Du Toit
I think I absolutely agree with you there. As you said, you know, being allow yourself to creating space, breathable space as well so that you said you can appreciate what's what's in the room. think, as you mentioned, sometimes just having everything too overly cluttered really just doesn't give you an opportunity to have that calmness, have that breathability and everything needs, you know, needs its own spotlight in a way as well. I think that's that's that's really, really lovely. Do you have
some issues with some clients when it comes to that? Where they really want to put as much into it as possible or is it quite easy to speak to them about the creating of intentional space and calmness?
Rhahat Syed
I think, yeah, we do have some clients that would like to fill every single corner of a boom, but this is where our powers of persuasion come in, our powers of diplomacy, absolutely. to be able to guide a client, to be able to...
make judgment calls. If it's a private client, the client is always right. It's their home. They've got to live in it at the end of the day. They've got to love it. As a designer, one of our main sort of almost power
Imke Du Toit
So.
Rhahat Syed
is to be able to direct them and influence them and steer them in the right direction, I'd say.
Imke Du Toit
Sure, it's all about communication and know open communication from you know from from the start I would imagine as well. But that's absolutely as you said the power of persuasion and that's definitely I think definitely a skill that is very very very much needed as well. I mean you work extensively with period properties in London. Is modern renovation slowly erasing the architectural soul of these buildings do you think?
Rhahat Syed
Yeah, it's an interesting question. feel like there's a place for both to coexist. So when we go into a period home, you know, we love...
trying to retain the original features, trying to accentuate the original features, should I say. We like to bring those period properties back to life. So it's not a case of going in there and bulldozing everything that's there already. We really try to appreciate, I guess, and respect the heritage of a period property.
Imke Du Toit
Yes.
Yeah.
Rhahat Syed
then there's also a place for
restoring that property, if it is a period property, so pathetically, so, you know, making it functional for modern day living to make it comfortable, to make it usable, you know, for a family. We, we, you know, are quite fortunate with our client base here at Interiorize because we work for private clients as well as property developers. So we have to consider, you know, flexible layout,
Imke Du Toit
Yeah
Rhahat Syed
we embody timelessness, we make sure we can, know, an interior is enduring. So we always try to look at period properties with a view to enhancing their original beauty and their original heritage, but also making them conducive to how a family would live in them today.
Imke Du Toit
So, Absolutely. mean, you must see some incredible period properties. I there's an abundance of them as well, you know, over in the UK. And I can imagine you must see amazing things and it must be wonderful projects. As you say as well, it is about that balance again, also of restoring by creating a livable space for a modern family now.
Rhahat Syed
Yeah.
Imke Du Toit
So let's move a little bit into trends and obviously where interior design is really going.
You know, so clients there are more informed mean, do you think they now approach interior designers more like consultants, therapists or procurement managers? I mean, the clients have really shifted over time and with so many different things that they can go and research or look into, you know, themselves. What do you think is the approach to interior designers now?
Rhahat Syed
Yeah, I think from the outset, it's really important to establish why the client actually wants to use your services. know, why are they coming to you? Why do they feel they need an interior designer? You know, what do they feel the interior designer will bring to the table?
you know, it's really understanding how they think an interior designer can help. And I think if you establish that from the outset, you both understand the service that you, you know, are going to deliver the client, you know, has their expectations. you know, if a client was to come to me and say, for example, I have a Pinterest image, you know, I, I want I'd say that's not a design service. You know, if a client
Imke Du Toit
Yeah.
Rhahat Syed
to me and says, I know exactly what I want, but I, you know, I'd like you to be able to tell me, I doing the right thing? You know, I'm, that's being a sounding board, you know, that's not a design service. However, if a client would then say to me that, you know, I know exactly what I want, I'd like to procure it for me, then you know exactly the service you're going to provide. And, you know, if that's a standard
Imke Du Toit
So.
you
Rhahat Syed
loan service you provide as part of your studio, then, you know, brilliant, because then you can, you know, you can execute accordingly and you can price accordingly as well. So I think it's really important to understand the client's expectations, you know, to understand why, why they want to use your studio. Like, what are you going to add? You know, what's the value add? And then from that point, you can really move forward knowing that you're
Imke Du Toit
Sure.
Rhahat Syed
or meeting the client's expectations or also considering, I feel as a design studio, whether that client is a good match for you or
Imke Du Toit
Yes, that's actually what
I was wanting to quickly divert you as well. Have you ever had a situation where you felt that the client really was not a match for interior eyes?
Rhahat Syed
I think you have to be honest with the client. You have to be honest with yourself. And, you know, we never like turning clients away and we always try to deliver to the best of our ability and to deliver what the clients want. But there may be circumstances where they're not seeing the vision or they're not understanding the value really of what you're providing, you know.
Our experience, our network of suppliers, all the hats you have to wear through the life cycle. it's, yeah, sometimes unfortunately if a client isn't a good match for your studio, then sometimes you have to say, well, I'm really sorry, but this may not work.
Imke Du Toit
years, absolutely agree. As she said, needs to be transparency and honesty from the get-go. And as she said earlier as well, understanding that from the offset, what it is that their expectations are and what you are able to deliver at the end of the day based on that.
So London design is increasingly influenced by global trends. I Italian minimalism, Japanese restraint, Middle Eastern opulence. Are we at risk of losing distinctly British design identity?
Rhahat Syed
Yeah, it's an interesting one. I don't think so. think British design is evolving really. You we've always been influenced by global influences. When you think about what's British and you think about
Imke Du Toit
Yeah.
Rhahat Syed
the different design areas. think about Jordan Cemetery, think about, you know, Victorian. Eclecticism, you think about the craftsmanship in art, you know, in the arts and crafts era, they've all been, all those different design periods have been influenced by global, you know, global influences, I'd say. So I think it's, it's not so much a case of being eradicated, it's a case of evolving, you know, it's nice to be able to embrace
Imke Du Toit
Cool, Yeah
Rhahat Syed
Japanese minimalism. It's nice to be able to embrace the warmth of the Asian cultures, you know, the color and the pattern. So, but I think British designed us with almost a quiet sophistication. So it's the balance of being able to draw upon all those influences, but be able to bring them together in a manner which would compliment, I guess, you know, the architecture.
Imke Du Toit
Yes.
And as you said, as well as what you've seen, you know, within real time with different colleagues and things, we, think you find that your skills are so vitally important and a massive part in what you do, especially as creatives as well think sometimes I myself am a creative as well. I do understand that as well where the potentially the creativity just goes a hundred miles an hour. And sometimes you need those other skills to hold that back again and find the structure. Cause ultimately the project needs
to still continue and have that structure there. So, but that's great. So let's move on a little bit to look at, you know, design philosophy, taste and the realities of, you know, client work.
Does one design principle you stubbornly defend even when clients try to resist it?
Rhahat Syed
I think I would defend letting a room breathe. You you have to have space for stillness. You have to have space for calmness. There's a tendency sometimes with clients to want to fill every single space of a room. You know, that corner needs to be interesting. That wall needs to be interesting. And I think there's a real place for...defending the ability to create intentional space, to create intentional calm. I think sometimes, you know, a little bit of restraint goes a long way. It's what creates the timelessness. what's...
creates the ability then to appreciate the other pieces that you have in the room, the different elements. So absolutely, sometimes I think you need to pull it back to be able to appreciate the larger picture.
Imke Du Toit
Yeah, I think I absolutely agree with you there. As you said, you know, being allow yourself to creating space, breathable space as well so that you said you can appreciate what's what's in the room. think, as you mentioned, sometimes just having everything too overly cluttered really just doesn't give you an opportunity to have that calmness, have that breathability and everything needs, you know, needs its own spotlight in a way as well. I think that's that's that's really, really lovely. Do you have
some issues with some clients when it comes to that? Where they really want to put as much into it as possible or is it quite easy to speak to them about the creating of intentional space and calmness?
Rhahat Syed
I think, yeah, we do have some clients that would like to fill every single corner of a boom, but this is where our powers of persuasion come in, our powers of diplomacy, absolutely. to be able to guide a client, to be able to...
make judgment calls. If it's a private client, the client is always right. It's their home. They've got to live in it at the end of the day. They've got to love it. As a designer, one of our main sort of almost power is to be able to direct them and influence them and steer them in the right direction, I'd say.
Imke Du Toit
Sure, it's all about communication and know open communication from you know from from the start I would imagine as well. But that's absolutely as you said the power of persuasion and that's definitely I think definitely a skill that is very very very much needed as well. I mean you work extensively with period properties in London. Is modern renovation slowly erasing the architectural soul of these buildings do you think?
Rhahat Syed
Yes. Yeah.
Yeah, it's an interesting question. feel like there's a place for both to coexist. So when we go into a period home, you know, we love...
trying to retain the original features, trying to accentuate the original features, should I say. We like to bring those period properties back to life. So it's not a case of going in there and bulldozing everything that's there already. We really try to appreciate, I guess, and respect the heritage of a period property.
Imke Du Toit
Yeah.
Rhahat Syed
then there's also a place for restoring that property, if it is a period property, so pathetically, so, you know, making it functional for modern day living to make it comfortable, to make it usable, you know, for a family. We, we, you know, are quite fortunate with our client base here at Interiorize because we work for private clients as well as property developers. So we have to consider, you know, flexible layout,
Imke Du Toit
Yeah
Rhahat Syed
we embody timelessness, we make sure we can, know, an interior is enduring. So we always try to look at period properties with a view to enhancing their original beauty and their original heritage, but also making them conducive to how a family would live in them today.
Imke Du Toit
So.
Absolutely. mean, you must see some incredible period properties. I there's an abundance of them as well, you know, over in the UK. And I can imagine you must see amazing things and it must be wonderful projects. As you say as well, it is about that balance again, also of restoring by creating a livable space for a modern family now.
Rhahat Syed
Yeah.
Imke Du Toit
So let's move a little bit into trends and obviously where interior design is really going.
You know, so clients there are more informed mean, do you think they now approach interior designers more like consultants, therapists or procurement managers? I mean, the clients have really shifted over time and with so many different things that they can go and research or look into, you know, themselves. What do you think is the approach to interior designers now?
Rhahat Syed
Yeah, I think from the outset, it's really important to establish why the client actually wants to use your services. know, why are they coming to you? Why do they feel they need an interior designer? You know, what do they feel the interior designer will bring to the table?
you know, it's really understanding how they think an interior designer can help. And I think if you establish that from the outset, you both understand the service that you, you know, are going to deliver the client, you know, has their expectations. you know, if a client was to come to me and say, for example, I have a Pinterest image, you know, I, I want I'd say that's not a design service. You know, if a client
Imke Du Toit
Yeah.
Rhahat Syed
to me and says, I know exactly what I want, but I, you know, I'd like you to be able to tell me, I doing the right thing? You know, I'm, that's being a sounding board, you know, that's not a design service. However, if a client would then say to me that, you know, I know exactly what I want, I'd like to procure it for me, then you know exactly the service you're going to provide.
Imke Du Toit
Yeah
Rhahat Syed
And, you know, if that's a standardloan service you provide as part of your studio, then, you know, brilliant, because then you can, you know, you can execute accordingly and you can price accordingly as well. So I think it's really important to understand the client's expectations, you know, to understand why, why they want to use your studio. Like, what are you going to add? You know, what's the value add? And then from that point, you can really move forward knowing that you're
Imke Du Toit
Sure.
Rhahat Syed
or meeting the client's expectations or also considering, I feel as a design studio, whether that client is a good match for you or
Imke Du Toit
Yes, that's actually what I was wanting to quickly divert you as well. Have you ever had a situation where you felt that the client really was not a match for interior eyes?
Rhahat Syed
I think you have to be honest with the client. You have to be honest with yourself. And, you know, we never like turning clients away and we always try to deliver to the best of our ability and to deliver what the clients want. But there may be circumstances where they're not seeing the vision or they're not understanding the value really of what you're providing, you know. Our experience, our network of suppliers, all the hats you have to wear through the life cycle. it's, yeah, sometimes unfortunately if a client isn't a good match for your studio, then sometimes you have to say, well, I'm really sorry, but this may not work.
Imke Du Toit
I absolutely agree. As she said, needs to be transparency and honesty from the get-go. And as she said earlier as well, understanding that from the offset, what it is that their expectations are and what you are able to deliver at the end of the day based on that.
So London design is increasingly influenced by global trends. I Italian minimalism, Japanese restraint, Middle Eastern opulence. Are we at risk of losing distinctly British design identity?
Rhahat Syed
Yeah, it's an interesting one. I don't think so. think British design is evolving really. You we've always been influenced by global influences. When you think about what's British and you think about
Imke Du Toit
Yeah.
Rhahat Syed
the different design areas. think about Jordan Cemetery, think about, you know, Victorian. Eclecticism, you think about the craftsmanship in art, you know, in the arts and crafts era, they've all been, all those different design periods have been influenced by global, you know, global influences, I'd say. So I think it's, it's not so much a case of being eradicated, it's a case of evolving, you know, it's nice to be able to embrace
Imke Du Toit
Yeah
Rhahat Syed
Japanese minimalism. It's nice to be able to embrace the warmth of the Asian cultures, you know, the color and the pattern. So, but I think British designed us with almost a quiet sophistication. So it's the balance of being able to draw upon all those influences, but be able to bring them together in a manner which would compliment, I guess, you know, the architecture.
Imke Du Toit
Yes.
Rhahat Syed
that we find living in.
Imke Du Toit
It is influenced, especially when it comes to Britain as well. There's so many different influences from all over, over decades as well. mean, with global tensions from Ukraine to the Middle East, I have your clients' approaches to design budgets or interiors changed?
Rhahat Syed
Yeah. Yeah.
Imke Du Toit
so much going on in the world right now, especially in those spaces. Has that approach changed for your clients at all?
Rhahat Syed
Yeah, it's impossible to ignore the global tensions and I feel it has had a slight impact. There has been a shift, but it's more towards ensuring, know, timelessness, ensuring longevity. So, you know, for my developer clients, there's been a shift in looking at the lead times, looking at the originals.
of a project, you know, how long will it take to arrive, the materiality. And then for my clients, it's more about.
craftsmanship, know, finding pieces that will endure, will last. It's more about investing in longer term pieces rather than, you know, the culture of sort of, you know, buy it now, we'll get rid of it later. So I think there has been a slight perception, slight shift in practice and perception. It's definitely more thoughtful and more considered, I'd say.
Imke Du Toit
of course, But it makes sense as well. mean, looking at, you know, for what you are purchasing and what you're doing, and if you can get something that is long lasting and that longevity and sustainability, obviously throughout the time is vitally important. And it's interesting as you were saying, the difference between, you know, your investor clients versus your, you know, your private clients sort of looking at the two sectors and what's important or the shifts that have actually happened just even amongst, you know, that those two sectors is very, very interesting and possibly
Rhahat Syed
Yeah.
Imke Du Toit
will keep shifting and keep changing as well. And then we look at sustainability. If sustainability were to be enforced legally rather than, let's say, voluntarily, how would the luxury design world shift tomorrow?
Rhahat Syed
think, yeah, there'd be quite a redefining impact actually if it was to be legally mandated, you know, when we think about luxury, whether it's in the...
design sector or not, you know, it's epitomized by exotic materials, know, rarity, finite materials. So sustainability was to be legally enforced, then there'd have to be a change in mindset, not only from the client, but also from the designer. You know, the client want more accountability really in
Imke Du Toit
Yeah
Rhahat Syed
you know, the provenance in where the pieces are originating from, you know, how are they manufactured. From a designer's point of view, we'd have to consider low impact, you know, materials, we'd have environmental responsibilities. So, you know, rather than a nice to have, it would be a complete mindset shift, really. And I feel that one that would to happen slowly, you know, it's a real
Imke Du Toit
Yes.
Rhahat Syed
change not only in, yeah, like I said, the mindset, but also in your practice.
Imke Du Toit
Of course, yes. that's and I think it's going to take it's going to take some time as well. As you said, it is a mind shift change, but as I think within suppliers as well, you know, obviously to making sure and making it easier if that's the case as well with designers knowing that the suppliers they work with already sustainability is already there. It's embedded in the work that is done and obviously then puts the clients at ease.
Moving into a different conversation now as we're looking at technology and AI and
And what that means for the future of design. I how do you see AI changing the role of the interior design world in the next three to five years? It's already changed so much, I would say, possibly even just in the last three years. So how do you see that changing the role of it in the next three to five years now?
Rhahat Syed
So, Absolutely. I think it's going to be quite profound actually. feel like I'm always playing catch up. I'm still embracing AI. I'm still learning about AI. I'm still trying to know how best to embed it. So the minute I try and learn one new platform, something else has changed. It's definitely evolving at a really fast pace. I do.
Imke Du Toit
Yes.
Rhahat Syed
I do feel, yes, it's going to change the way interior designers work in that we will be able to work quicker. We will be able to work faster. know, AI can automate, it can streamline, it can carry those.
heavy, you know, those heavy tasks, be it, you know, technical documentation, be it visualization. So absolutely, there is a place for it. But I also feel that this still will be a place for human led design, you know, it won't be able to replace how you sort of, you know, you walk into a property and how you feel.
Imke Du Toit
Yeah
Rhahat Syed
of a property, won't be able to replace the little dynamics that you may pick up from a family, the emotional intelligence you will need when you deal with your investor clients, your property developers. So there is still a place for human led design. We will absolutely have to embrace it.
Imke Du Toit
Yeah. course, control.
Rhahat Syed
to help streamline our processes, but it won't take those more human aspects away from designers.
Imke Du Toit
And as you said, is that part and that soul and that the environment and the nuances and that emotional connection to a space is only really possible, you know, through, you know, human, human touch and human influence. So no, I absolutely agree. But as you said, as well, you know, we're to have to embrace that we're to have to embrace technology and AI. And as you said, as well, playing catch up all the time, because it does it's ever changing. Next thing you know, the next day, the same
Rhahat Syed
Yeah.
Imke Du Toit
As well as got multiple different other features you don't really know where to look. But I mean, do you think the clients will soon expect design outputs to be faster, cheaper or more optimized? I mean,
Rhahat Syed
Yeah.
Imke Du Toit
You know, looking at algorithms and things. I mean, how does that sit with you? mean, with, with people having access to all of this technology and AI as well. mean, clients also go and look at different things. You know, does that really change the design output expectations from clients?
Rhahat Syed
Yeah, I think there will be an expectation for designs to be faster, especially in the early stages of design the concept, the vision, potentially the 3D visualizations, all of those outputs will be much faster. with regard to, that have an impact on our design fees and should we be cheaper?
Imke Du Toit
Yeah.
Rhahat Syed
I think absolutely not in that we still have to, we will almost be the directors of AI, know, the curators of AI. So we can use AI to feed into our processes. However, you know, going back to the human element, we still have to make judgment calls. We still have to be able to communicate. We still have to be able to.
Imke Du Toit
Please, Please.
Rhahat Syed
understand the feedback, you know, from our clients. So that human centric approach, you know, the emotional intelligence, I don't think you can put a price on that. That's where you you know, you add value as a designer, the way you build a rapport with your clients, you know, the way you communicate with your clients, the way your clients entrust you to make good, good judgment calls.
Imke Du Toit
Yeah.
Rhahat Syed
So You know, although algorithms may perfect, I don't think they will, I don't think they will overtake, you know, tasks can be accelerated, but you can't, you can't replace tact, really, you can't replace emotion.
Imke Du Toit
Yeah.
Rhahat Syed
So yeah, I think there is a place for it. However, I don't think clients should expect that as a result of AI, clients themselves are experimenting with AI, you know, there was a situation where a client, you know, generated an AI image and said, you know, that's what I'd like. So they are they're experimenting. But again, you know, who's going to bring all those elements together? Who's going to
Imke Du Toit
Yeah, exactly
Rhahat Syed
who's humanise them, who's going to organise, who's going to procure, you know, all of that. Yeah.
Imke Du Toit
Of course. Yes. I think it is, They are very important. It is time to embrace it. But you have to guide and steer AI as well. And you have to bring it forward. But also, I don't think it would ever disagree or fight back with you as AI would. think you do need that human interaction, that human touch with your clients to debating what could work, what could not.
Rhahat Syed
Yes.
Imke Du Toit
asked earlier how important that is with that relationship and that conversation that needs to happen, especially having to guide them and even steer your clients into directions that could work for both parties. The same thing I think would apply having to work with the technology that is available. of course, like you said as well, clients are experimenting and they've got access to these things as well. And I think, as you mentioned, it's likely important that they don't think going to
Rhahat Syed
Yeah.
Imke Du Toit
expecting that to be the case because not everything that AI generates is even possible in real time, you until you test it out and to see what happens. So it is vitally important, but it'd be very interesting to see what it's going to be like. It's a little bit daunting for myself, to be honest. I'm a little bit...
Rhahat Syed
Yeah, I know.
Imke Du Toit
interested to see what's going to happen there. But I mean, it is going to, as you said, we have to embrace it. is here. We're not necessarily going to be able to get rid of it.
but making sure the clients also understand there are limitations within what they want and what they've seen as well, I guess. And now moving a little bit into the industry and ethics and the designer's role today. mean, are clients today less emotionally invested in craftsmanship and more focused on speed, convenience and resale value? I mean, life is so fast paced at the moment. Everyone wants things now and...
I mean, how do you feel about that of clients today?
Rhahat Syed
Yeah, I feel it depends on the type of client actually. know, as I mentioned, we're...quite fortunate to have a client base consisting of private clients and investor clients. it really depends on the type of client and what they're looking for. For the investor client, the luxury is the speed of execution. It's timeliness, it's how quickly, it's the elevated design, like how can you give me an elevated design but offer it in a timely manner
Imke Du Toit
Yeah.
Rhahat Syed
So that's the luxury. Whereas for private clients, it's about the craftsmanship. So, you know, I think there's a, there is a place for both. And actually there's a middle ground as well, because now you're finding that there are.
Imke Du Toit
Yeah.
Rhahat Syed
clients that want to have their homes personal for the now and make them livable, but also make sure they have broad market appeal for the future. And I feel, you know, this is where, this is where our design philosophy of livable luxury really has a place. It's, you know, it's a case of producing something or creating something for your client that's livable, but it's also beautiful, you know, it's functional, it's usable, but it's personal to them. So it's a case of blending all of those elements to ensure that they have something that they're really happy with right here and now. But if they were to move in the future that, you know, that property, that design will have a broader market appeal. Yeah.
Imke Du Toit
Sure, no, absolutely. And as you said as well, it also I think comes into the timelessness of it as well, making something timeless as well, longevity, as you mentioned as well, that the clients are really looking at as well and investing in the private properties or in the public sectors and things like that as well. So I feel that that is definitely something that they are considering, but it's interesting, as you said as well, again, with your investment properties
versus your private clients. It's very interesting just to see how everyone's minds and what they're expecting is so not vastly different, but different, you know, within what they are expecting. With many wealthy Londoners relocating to the UAE, mean, South Europe and Singapore, have you noticed clients designing homes here as investments rather than personal spaces?
Rhahat Syed
Yeah, I'd say there's been a slight shift, but at Interior as we've always been used to, because we deal with both, you know, both sets of clients, we've always used to be, we've always, you know, incorporated, should I say, an element of investment into our design. So we think about the timeless color palettes. We think about the functional layout such that if a family was to live there or if a tenant was to live there, does this layout work? Do the colors work? Do they have?
Imke Du Toit
Sure.
Rhahat Syed
you know, broad market appeal. So rather than personalizing them to an extent where, you know, a client may think, my goodness, if I, you know, if I inject all the colors or everything I want into this home, when I come to resell it, I might have to redo the whole thing. We try to incorporate both worlds and blend both of those worlds seamlessly such that, you know, a property is livable, but...if you are going to resell value, you know, you think about, okay, well, how do we almost future proof this, you know, if we are to leave or if we are to invest in, a property future.
Imke Du Toit
Of course, Absolutely. Is there actually a property that you designed that you absolutely loved? Is there one that you could say was really a standout project for you?
Rhahat Syed
Yeah, mean, we've been quite fortunate in that we've had the opportunity to go into some really beautiful properties and very diverse in fact. So there was, you know, a six story townhouse that we've recently designed for in Knightsbridge. that was very, we really, you know, we really embraced the heritage of the property, the period of the
property. Our design was quite classic, know, we introduce, although we introduced some modern elements again, to, to ensure that it was livable, you know, we really embrace some of the more traditional aspects in our design, but at the same time, we were designing for a client and it was a six bedroom penthouse along the river. So, you know, and that was very contemporary, very sleek. So it was really lovely to think about.
Imke Du Toit
Yeah
Rhahat Syed
both those designs you know at the same time and really invest in the architecture of the property, in the area, in the demographics.
Imke Du Toit
Absolutely, That's amazing. can imagine as well, every single property is so different as well. it's one thing I think that's so wonderful about the creative industries as well. Everything's different. Every experience is different. Nothing is ever going to be the same. but in that, I mean, that's the self, mean, so memorable and stands to test the time because no space is ever going to be the same as another space and what it means to everything. So I think that's fantastic. And I'm sure that you've got a lot of great upcoming projects as well.
Rhahat Syed
Yes.
Imke Du Toit
But it was absolutely wonderful to have you on the podcast with us today. And thank you so much for joining us and sharing your approach to creating elegant functional spaces that feel truly lived in. And it's absolutely, absolute pleasure to have had you here today.
Rhahat Syed
Thank you, Imke. Thank you so much for having me on the podcast. Really enjoyed speaking to you. Thank you so much.
Imke Du Toit
was absolutely wonderful. And to all of our listeners and viewers, thank you so much again for tuning into FCI London podcast. Keep following and keep designing and join us again as we continue our conversations with London's most influential luxury designers. Until next time.
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