Our Guiding Principal
Liveable Luxury
Exceptional environments begin with listening - to history, to place, and to how people truly live.
This is liveable luxury: the architecture of slow living where homes invite disconnection from distraction, immersion in the present, and authentic experiences that honor people and place over spectacle.
True luxury reveals itself through honest materiality - surfaces bearing the marks of their making, finishes that age with grace, craft that speaks quietly of human hands and invested time.
Quality manifests as integrity, materials chosen for inherent character, details refined through meticulous attention, construction honoring both maker and inhabitant.
The result is luxury as seamlessness rather than spectacle. Environments rooted in context yet deeply attuned to how families actually live - places that slow time, deepen presence, and honor the rhythms of daily life.
Considered, restorative, unmistakably authentic.
Ellume Founder
Nicola Sherbon is our Creative Director and qualified Interior Architect with 15 years of experience creating bespoke luxury environments for discerning private clients and family offices across Europe, America, UAE, and Australia.
Her career has been defined by delivering exceptional residential design at the highest level working directly with high-net-worth individuals to craft homes that are both deeply personal and architecturally refined. She works closely with clients to understand how they and their families live - daily rhythms, entertaining styles, moments of comfort, creating homes with effortless elegance, functionality, and timeless design that feels inherently theirs.
Nicola's portfolio includes villas, penthouses, townhouses, and estates distinguished by narrative-led design, material authenticity, and timeless elegance that bridges contemporary expression with heritage sensitivity. Her expertise spans the full design journey from concept to completion, with particular focus on super-prime private residences where discretion, detail, and craftsmanship are paramount.
Notably for the past 5 years, Nicola has been at the helm of Banda Design Studio, based in London, as the creative lead and strategic growth force behind the now lifestlye brand. Nicola drove the studio's design vision, global expansion, and commercial transformation, scaling the practice from 5 to 50 people, and developed the unmistakable and authentic design aesthetic the studio is now known for.
Nicola has re-launched her practice, originally established in 2019, which is expanding in response to growing demand and client interest. Working between London and Sydney, Nicola is building a global studio that synthesises her seasoned experience and personal ethos of “liveable luxury”, bringing exceptional, world-class design to Australian, British, and international clients alike.