Zen At Heart

Overlooking a tranquil Zen Garden designed by award-winning Bonsai-artist Peter Chan, Cain International launches the Zen Apartment collection at Islington Square, Abode2 takes a relaxing retreat

The exclusive apartment collection comprises eight homes, each finished to the highest-quality, in the heart of the sought-after landmark development. Islington Square offers exceptional lifestyle amenities and a vibrant new community, with the array of luxe retail, restaurants, cafes, bars and leisure amenities giving buyers everything they want on their doorstep. The Zen Apartment collection offers the final homes available, comprising of six two-bedroom apartments, and two three-bedroom apartments, both of which have already been reserved ahead of this official launch.

Designed by 21-time Chelsea Gold medallist Peter Chan, the new 795 square metre Zen viewing Garden is London’s largest within a residential development and is located in the central courtyard of 8 Esther Anne Place, the historic Edwardian former Royal Mail Sorting office, now converted into large warehouse apartments.

The Zen Apartment collection is being showcased with a stylish two-bedroom show apartment, styled by New I.D. Interiors, which brings the outside in through earthy tones, mixed textures and greenery. With a colour palette of green, mustard, burnt orange and blue, the show apartment offers warm, chic spaces to relax with the peaceful Zen Garden visible -from each room.

The open-plan kitchen, dining and living room has a striking feature wallpaper which recalls tree bark, paired with a moss green sofa and spotted rug, a youthful mixture. There is a bonsai tree in the living room and miniature hanging terrariums in one bedroom amongst other greenery, connecting to the nature outside. Throughout the show home, there is a balance of mixed woods, wicker, and black detailing for a contemporary finish. Both bedrooms offer colourful, thoughtfully curated spaces that complement the views of the Zen Garden, with statement headboards, textured wallpaper and mixed prints.

Instructed agents Beauchamp Estates say that the final collection has been designed with young professionals in mind, with buyers drawn to the lifestyle aspect of the development and trendy Islington location. Amenities include a luxury health club by Third Space and a Luxe & Dine cinema by Odeon, alongside sought-after restaurants and cafes, a theatre, boutique grocery, as well as regular wellbeing workshops, outdoor food markets and yoga classes.

Providing tranquil greenery, a beautiful feature and relaxation for the courtyard facing apartments, the Zen Garden is designed as a Karesansu (Japanese dry rock garden) and has large green lawns with a mixture of beautiful seasonally coloured deciduous trees and evergreen pines dotted around the space, the evergreens representing longevity and stability in Japanese garden design.

At either end of the garden there are “dry streams” created from grey slate rocks, representing the river of life, with a Japanese Guzei, or red bridge, over the slate stream. The red bridges stand for the crossing from the physical world into the realm of the spirit, representing purity and a path to salvation. In the centre of the garden is a raised stone platform, bordered in slate and surmounted by large focal point rocks on a bed of white gravel stones. The large rocks on the raised platform represent mountains, set in groups of three, representing Buddha and his attendants.

Yahya Swallem of Beauchamp Estates says: “We are delighted to launch the Zen Apartment collection, the much-anticipated final apartments at Islington Square. We have seen very strong buyer demand for this landmark development, with a mixture of local buyers and young professionals drawn to the lifestyle aspect of the scheme, people want everything on their doorstep and to feel part of a new community. The Zen Apartments have a great outlook onto the Zen Garden, and these stylish homes capitalise on these peaceful views.”

Kiran Bhatia, Senior Interior Designer at New I.D. Interiors says: “The Zen Apartment collection at Islington Square has fantastic views onto the large Zen Garden, and we wanted to balance this tranquillity with vibrant colours and mixed prints. We designed the apartment to appeal to a young professional, perhaps someone who loves travelling, and who wants a warm, colourful home with curated accessories throughout.”

Prices for the Zen Apartment collection start from £1,215,000.

londonsales@beauchamp.com