David Collins (1 March 1955 – 17 July 2013) was an Irish architect who specialised in designing the interiors of bars and restaurants in

London London is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of both England and the United Kingdom, with a population of in . London metropolitan area, Its wider metropolitan area is the largest in Wester ...

Biography

Early life

David Collins was born in

Dublin Dublin is the capital and largest city of Republic of Ireland, Ireland. Situated on Dublin Bay at the mouth of the River Liffey, it is in the Provinces of Ireland, province of Leinster, and is bordered on the south by the Dublin Mountains, pa ...

, Ireland on 1 March 1955. He studied architecture at the Bolton Street School of Architecture in Dublin.

Career

He established the David Collins Studio, an interior design firm based in London, in 1985. One of his first interior designs was chef

Pierre Koffmann Pierre Koffmann (born 21 August 1948) is a French professional chef. He was one of a handful of chefs in the United Kingdom to have been awarded the coveted three Michelin stars at his restaurant La Tante Claire in London. Until December 2016, ...

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in Chelsea. He then designed chef

Marco Pierre White Marco Pierre White (born 11 December 1961) is an English chef, restaurateur and television personality. In 1995 he became the youngest chef to earn three Michelin stars. He has trained chefs including Mario Batali, Shannon Bennett, Gordon Ramsa ...

's (now defunct) Harvey's Harveys (restaurant)

in 1988. Later, he designed The Gilbert Scott, chef

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's restaurant at the St Pancras Renaissance Hotel. Another Wareing restaurant that he designed was the

Blue Bar The Algonquin Hotel (officially The Algonquin Hotel Times Square, Autograph Collection) is a hotel at 59 West 44th Street in Midtown Manhattan, New York City, United States. The 181-room hotel, opened in 1902, was designed by architect Goldwi ...

Belgravia Belgravia () is a district in Central London, covering parts of the areas of the City of Westminster and the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea. Belgravia was known as the 'Five Fields' during the Tudor Period, and became a dangerous pla ...

. He went on to design The Wolseley, the Delaunay Hotel, J Sheekey, Brasserie Zédel, Colbert, Gordon Ramsay at Royal Hospital Road, and Nobu Berkeley St. He also designed retail interiors for

Jimmy Choo Jimmy Choo Yeang Keat (born 15 November 1948) is a Malaysian fashion designer based in the United Kingdom. He co-founded Jimmy Choo Ltd, which became known for its handmade women's shoes. Early life Choo was born in 1948 in the Crown Colony ...

Alexander McQueen Lee Alexander McQueen (17 March 1969 – 11 February 2010) was a British fashion designer and couturier. He founded his own Alexander McQueen (brand), Alexander McQueen label in 1992 and was chief designer at Givenchy from 1996 to 2001. His ac ...

and

Harrods Harrods is a Listed building, Grade II listed luxury department store on Brompton Road in Knightsbridge, London, England. It was designed by C. W. Stephens for Charles Digby Harrod, and opened in 1905; it replaced the first store on the ground ...

. Additionally, he designed The Charles, an apartment building on the

Upper East Side The Upper East Side, sometimes abbreviated UES, is a neighborhood in the boroughs of New York City, borough of Manhattan in New York City. It is bounded approximately by 96th Street (Manhattan), 96th Street to the north, the East River to the e ...

in New York City. He was a close friend of

Madonna Madonna Louise Ciccone ( ; born August 16, 1958) is an American singer, songwriter, record producer, and actress. Referred to as the "Queen of Pop", she has been recognized for her continual reinvention and versatility in music production, ...

: he designed her London and New York apartments and she used a poem that he wrote as the basis of her 1998 song "

Drowned World/Substitute for Love "Drowned World/Substitute for Love" is a song recorded by American singer Madonna for her seventh studio album, ''Ray of Light'' (1998). It was written and produced by Madonna and William Orbit, with additional songwriters including Rod McKuen ...

", for which he received a co-writing credit.

Influence

David Collins's design and aesthetic has had a huge impact, which was part of what led him to be named to the 2012 AD100 list. Simon Mills of Wallpaper* magazine said that "It is no exaggeration to say that the restaurant and hotel revolution in London of the last two decades would not have been the same without him."

Death

Collins died in London on 17 July 2013 from

melanoma Melanoma is the most dangerous type of skin cancer; it develops from the melanin-producing cells known as melanocytes. It typically occurs in the skin, but may rarely occur in the mouth, intestines, or eye (uveal melanoma). In very rare case ...

only three weeks after being diagnosed.

Legacy

A book that Collins had been working on was published posthumously in May 2014 and the Studio celebrated its 35th anniversary in 2020.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Collins, David 1955 births 2013 deaths Architects from Dublin (city) Designers from London Interior designers Irish expatriates in the United Kingdom