JERMAIN DEFOE Thinking On His Feet - Mayfair Times

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property
Andrew Murray is the quintessential bloke. He’s a builder, for a
start, he likes to hang out on site wearing a hard hat and eating
bacon sandwiches, and he also likes to “wing” things.
But he also happens to be rather successful at doing so.
Andrew is not just any old builder – he heads up top-end
development company Morpheus and is responsible for some of
the smartest pads around.
His company has completed 17 projects in Mayfair in the past
13 years, as well as numerous other schemes in the prime central
London area. And Andrew is currently working on what look set
to be the best two penthouses in London. The project is a joint
venture with Charles Street Estates and also involves designer
Nicky Haslam. And already there are offers of around £3,000 a
sq ft floating about.
Just down the road, meanwhile, Morpheus is drawing up
plans to transform the Thomas Goode building, redesigning the
shop floor and creating nine flats above it.
Not bad for a guy who fell into the trade in a manner that he
describes as being “a little accidental”.
Public-school educated Andrew, now 36, left university with a
degree in economics, a bit of experience at painting and
decorating for friends in the holidays, and a lot of confidence.
“I persuaded an architect to let me do a whole house – a halfa-million-pound
job,” he explains. “I literally did it with a DIY
Collins manual and I rewired the whole thing – I met some quite
interesting people along the way. That was a kind of baptism of
fire.” And, he adds guiltily, “it was all cash”.
Whatever his motivation, Morpheus – named for the
company’s ability to change things – was born. And it’s been
growing ever since. Andrew jokes that nowadays he doesn’t get
out of bed for a one-bed flat job, and admits that the company
“tries to stick with top-end stuff”.
He explains: “I had the benefit of having had 10 years in the
industry to know what does and doesn’t work. I came into
developing with my tastes tuned.
“So now I’m trying to steer Morpheus away from all this fad
stuff – to concentrate on craftsmanship and finishes, keeping it
very classical and timeless.”
In practice, this translates into the very sleekest houses and
apartments – “not poncy and wooden and traditional”. So
Building
on
success
THERE’S NOTHING PONCY
ABOUT THE APARTMENTS
ANDREW MURRAY BUILDS –
THEY’RE SLEEK AND
CLASSICAL AND PACKED WITH
THE LATEST GADGETRY.
LUCY DENYER MEETS HIM
kitchens will come in white gloss rather than the latest, on-trend
blue or aubergine, and exteriors remain classical, even though
their interiors might be more up to the minute.
Andrew is not averse to technology, saying the key is to “get
as much in as you can”. But he says it’s important to make sure
there’s two types of interface – one that’s easy to use and one for
the super-techno geek. “There’s no point in selling a house with
so much gadgetry that everyone gets scared,” he says. “You
want Granny to come and stay and be able to turn the lights off.”
Granny is not Morpheus’s typical client, however – after all,
this is the company that finished a house in Mayfair a couple of
years ago complete with gun room, wet bars, a cigar room and
beds that “floated” on glass. One of the guest rooms even had a
bath in the bedroom, next to the fireplace.
Bathing by firelight, floating in bed – it’s all the kind of thing
that makes Andrew Murray tick. “I love designing things,” he says
simply. “People’s reactions when they go in there – that does it
for me. When someone comes into the best thing you’ve done
and they’re blown away by it – that’s awesome.”
As surely any man would agree.
ANDREW MURRAY FOUND
HIS DREAM JOB WHEN
HE STARTED MORPHEUS –
AND THE DEVELOPER’S
CHARLES STREET
PENTHOUSES LOOK SET
TO MAKE THE BUYERS’
DREAMS COME TRUE