Northacre CEO Niccolò Barattieri says lockdown has served as “time to reflect” on our values

2020 has been a year of new challenges but the future is bright for lovers of luxury. In our first ever British Luxury Review, Tempus asks experts from 12 of the UK’s most prestigious brands to shed some light on a year of seismic change and, in doing so, discovers a luxury landscape more focused on meaningful storytelling and fine craftsmanship than ever before. Here, Niccolò Barattieri, CEO of luxury property developer Northacre, and interior designer Natalia Miyar tell us how this “pause for thought” is impacting the future 

What has been the impact of Covid-19 on your business? 

Niccolò Barattieri: Lockdown has served as a pause for thought and has given us time to reflect on what we value most. I think that is human contact. While we are grateful for times of rest and rejuvenation, we are urban beings and thrive on living within a community and experiencing the buzz of our city. Never before have we placed so much importance on our homes and how we live. True luxury now is living in a home surrounded by friends and family, with green spaces and the best cultural and lifestyle offering all within a short walk. Within the home, luxury is a space that expands and contracts around the needs of its occupiers. The ultimate luxury for a home in London is space, both indoor and out, and views across our magnificent city.

Natalia Miyar: True luxury for a buyer is having something made just for you, when something has been put together in a truly unique way that no one else can have exactly the same thing and that is what I have done at No.1 Palace Street. I have put together a home which is so individual and so unique that it is the truest form of luxury.

What do you expect for future trends? 

Barattieri: 2020 has been a wakeup call for the world in terms of how we live and how we want to live in the future. Sustainability has long been at the forefront of our minds at Northacre. We strive to work with partners with the same sustainable values and ensure that our buildings are built to last using the very best techniques and sustainable materials. A new initiative that we have introduced in 2020 which has in part been accelerated by working virtually is our aim to be entirely paperless by 2021. 

As a business which is lucky to have partners and clients from every corner of the world, we have truly missed the human contact and varying cultures that international travel opens the door to. We travel the world in search of the finest materials, inspiration and to connect with new audiences, whilst we have been able to continue to work remotely nothing beats the interaction of being in a room with someone. From a sales point of view, technology and virtual viewings have enabled us to progress with our sales, but when dealing with such magnificent buildings seeing really is believing. On the ground our construction partners have adapted tremendously to ensure a safe environment for all on site operatives. This was no mean feat and continues to add challenges.

Read more from Britain’s luxury brands in Tempus Magazine issue 71, out now