Every so often the whole studio shuts the laptops and walks up the road. This time it was Polo in the Park, held on Hurlingham Park in Fulham, ten minutes from our own front door.
The setting. Hurlingham Park sits in the middle of Fulham, and for one weekend a year it turns into a polo ground with marquees down one side. Grass, sun and a crowd in a good mood. Nobody needed persuading to stay all afternoon.
Pimm’s and cream scones. We settled into our seats and turned our attention to the refreshments. A glass of Pimm’s is the right drink for a polo match in June, and it went down easily in the heat.
Then came the scones, with clotted cream and strawberry jam. A simple thing, in the sun, on a working Friday. Nobody was thinking about programmes or drawings.
The polo. The matches were the reason to be there. Watching professional players and their ponies turn at that speed, a few feet from the rail, is not something you forget quickly. The hooves, the mallets and the crowd all arrive at once.
What our interior designers took from it. Our interior design team spent most of the afternoon watching the coordination between the players and the ponies rather than the score. That is what designers do. Precision, timing and two things moving as one, which is more or less the job.
Back to the drawings on Monday. If you have a project you want to talk through, tell us about it, or call the studio on 020 7731 6841.
Published 10 June 2023. Written by the NU Projects studio, edited since for house style and accuracy.