Philippa Thorp is known to her many City clients as head of the award-winning architecture and interior design company Thorp Design, turning her hand to anything from private jets and superyachts to health clubs, holiday villas, art galleries, even garages and, recently, a horse box. Her clients rarely leave her, tending to become friends with the Thorp family (she works with her daughters). Operating globally, clients range from political leaders to lawyers and financiers.

At Thorp Design’s sleek open-plan headquarters off Sloane Street, glowing from the walls are some spectacular paintings by artists such as Howard Hodgkin, Victor Pasmore and Ivon Hitchens. Thorp sets out to create spaces that reflect clients as they would most like to be seen. To this end, she helps clients discover and develop their own style, curating collections with them. ‘At art school I learned the invaluable lesson that to have a distinct style is very restricting,’ she says. ‘Instead, we were trained to do broad brushstroke work across all media.’

Thorp had originally wanted to be an artist, so enrolled on an art foundation course at Chester. ‘My teacher loathed me for being from a public-school background, but he drilled me in perspective and drawing, and ignited a fire in my belly,’ she says. That fire was dampened when she went on to study fashion and textiles at Leicester. ‘Unlike my foundation course, where I was learning so much, there was too much choice and I felt rudderless and miserable.’

On abandoning her studies, Thorp found a temp job at Citibank. ‘It was a sliding-doors moment,’ she laughs. ‘My boss was inspirational, so sure of what he wanted, not rudderless at all. He asked me to stay on and work in the marketing department where I began pitching to Marks & Spencer and other department stores to adopt credit cards. I’m actually not bad at maths and was good at extracting information from clients, learning so much about financial reporting. I’d work till 11 at night and then go partying. I stayed for four and a half years.’

In 1984 a friend, Sarah, asked Thorp if she’d use her business know-how to help her set up a design business. ‘I suddenly realised that I’d always been envious of my roommate at Leicester for studying interior design, so immediately I said, “I’m your man!”’

Not long married, Thorp used the gold her mother-in-law had given her as a wedding gift to buy her stake in the new company, leaving the City to embark on a design career. By the time Thorp struck out on her own two years later, she had a roster of ‘amazing clients’. She went from doing up blocks of flats on Gloucester Road to a big private house on Pelham Crescent. ‘That house was for a young, successful guy in the City, which led me to my next client at RBS. For him, I did a house in Bramerton Street, then Ilchester Place as well as his country place. The business grew and grew, and we were passed around the City – to clients at Credit Suisse, Fidelity, Nomura, JP Morgan and Elliott Advisors,’ she continues. ‘These boys all had the money and were excited about investing it in us. They had multiple houses and loved the whole design process. They were riding high and had the sense they could do anything. It was a wonderful time.’

In the early 1990s, Thorp had set up the architectural side of her company. ‘I’m totally self-taught,’ she says, ‘but have always instantly and instinctively been able to see a space in 3D. You have to get under the bones of what people want and then ensure that project stays on track by controlling all the elements. Nowadays, clients tend to micro-manage everything but back then it was easier to steer the ship, as they just let our team do anything and everything.’

Today, Thorp Design is at the top of its game. Last year, Thorp herself designed and furnished three of the most expensive houses in London, not bad for someone who started out working from the bedroom she shared with her husband. ‘One client told me that in 20 years the only thing she needed to replace in her home was a rug,’ she says. ‘That’s testament to the fact we’re really giving people what they want. Now, with the art curation too, we’re taking clients on an artistic journey to achieve their vision. Clients trust me to deliver because I oversee absolutely everything. I’m not just paying attention to the detail but obsessed with attention to the detail. It’s that which gives financiers in particular the confidence to place their trust in me. Just like their other investments, they want the best outcome possible and that is exactly what I strive to guarantee.’

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