Magnus Englund by Rachael Smith

MAGNUS ENGLUND – ISOKON PENTHOUSE, BELSIZE PARK

Photographs Rachael Smith

Words Dominic Bradbury

Sitting among the Georgian terraces of leafy Belsize Park, the Isokon building felt way ahead of its time when it first opened its doors back in 1934. Today, the sleek apartment building still feels fresh with its crisp, sculpted outline and floating balconies suggesting a great ocean liner moored among the trees. It was the achievement of a lifetime for design world entrepreneur Jack Pritchard and avant garde architect Wells Coates. For a fleeting moment in the late 1930s this was the social and creative hub of north London, hosting a succession of famous writers, artists and architects. Pritchard and his wife Molly lived in the penthouse apartment, which is now home to another entrepreneur with a similar passion for architecture and good design, Magnus Englund, managing director of the Skandium furniture, lighting and home accessories stores.