When Amir Khamneipur was tapped to dream up a one-of-a-kind contemporary condo, the designer posed a simple yet complex question to his client: What does contemporary mean to you? To Khamneipur, who works alongside his partner in life and business, designer Paul Nikolaidis, “It’s not just a beautiful white box. For us, it’s about the artists and artisans leading the current movement.”
The client sought out Khamneipur for her new oceanfront property after falling for his pristine interiors at The Bristol in West Palm Beach, where he had outfitted the public spaces as well as a few private residences. “She loved the level of modernity, attention to detail and classical references woven into a modern setting,” Khamneipur recalls. Importantly, she wanted her Palm Beach residence to evoke the atmosphere of a Parisian gallery—an apt request, considering her extraordinary art collection, which features works by Picasso, Renoir, Chagall and Matisse. With general contractor Paul Wittmann, the designers embarked on an undertaking in which no expense was spared—“a dream project,” as Khamneipur puts it.
Working closely with the homeowner, the team completely reimagined the 6,000-square- foot apartment, converting it from a four- to a three-bedroom layout with a dazzling primary suite. The gut renovation entailed stripping the unit to the concrete, “down to the four exterior walls—not one thing was left,” says Wittmann, who has renovated the client’s previous homes, yet none as complex as this one. “She said to me, ‘I’m pulling out all the stops here.’ ” For instance, they raised the ceilings and prioritized the lighting in order to best illuminate the incoming artworks. In a unique twist—one of Khamneipur’s boundary- pushing ideas—he ensured none of the ceilings or baseboards touch the walls. This commitment to detail continued with marble flooring that was installed throughout, with slabs shipped from Bosnia and meticulously brought into the condo piece by piece via scaffolding Wittmann’s crew assembled along the building’s side.
That marble was one of the elite materials—such as bronze, leather, suede, wood and glass—that guided Khamneipur’s approach to the interiors, tracing back to his education in Paris and Barcelona. “This is the core of my foundation,” he explains. These rich textures include the solid bronze trim inlays cut into the marble floors and the white quartz crystal slabs that shroud the powder room, treated to mimic milky white onyx. High-gloss Macassar ebony wood is a showstopper as millwork in the bar as well as all the doors. And walls throughout are finished in hand-sculpted Venetian plaster and feature organic, undulating details that shimmer with the light, echoing the sea below. “We designed literally every inch, and we were able to do so because of the support of the client and Paul, the general contractor,” Nikoladis says. “We didn’t have to make any sacrifices.”
Naturally, when it came to furnishing the home, Khamneipur and Nikolaidis retained the same level of attention, calling on their Rolodex of trailblazing makers around the world for pieces to mingle with the client’s art collection. Hand-selected by the owner alongside the designers, each item had to be unique, have a sculptural quality and be created by a celebrated artisan she admired. “I wanted to use all my art, and these two understood that,” she says. “They knew what to do.” Standouts include the great room’s stools, adorned with thin strands of leather, and twin bronze chairs—the last designs by Vladmir Kagan and the only ones in bronze. Even the doorknobs are “works of art,” the owner says. “What I wanted were beautiful, luxurious, individual pieces that I’d never seen before—but nothing silly. If it was not practical and sensible, I didn’t want it.” For Khamneipur, the most meaningful items were by French artisan Hervé Van der Straeten, whom he’d admired since his start as a designer and has since formed a friendship. The entry sconces and console and the dining room table are among the acquisitions from his studio, as are the great room coffee table—whose bronze legs were custom arranged especially for this home.
In the end, it was the superimposition of these layers and potent artistry that came to define the word “contemporary” for the client. “This was a labor of love—not just for me but for the designers,” she says. “They took the home to heart, and it’s as perfect as can be.”
