Shimshad's pad has an 8ft-wide cinema screen, 6ft speakers and a 6,000-watt stereo system. A technophobe's idea of hell, perhaps, but Shimshad is addicted to each and every one of them. He even proudly produces an ultra hi-tech remote control that also activates blinds, air-conditioning and a fireplace with very 'Bond, James Bond' gliding doors. After a hard 12-hour day, Shimshad sinks into his leather sofa to ogle superhumanly big images of, say Jennifer Lopez, on his awesome plasma-screen TV.

'The room is soundproofed but vibrations have still made things fall off my neighbour's shelf,' laughs Shimshad. Why the mania for gizmos? 'I like a place geared for entertainment. I hang out here with 15 or so friends and dismantle the sofa to clear the floor for a dance.' This work-hard, play-hard whizz kid thinks nothing of jetting off to New York at the 11th hour to boogie at his favourite club, Twilo. At home, the roller shutter in his kitchen, spray-painted with graffiti, and the letters 'NYC' above his massive four-poster bed and 'NY' in the lounge, testify to his love of the Big Apple.

'Friends say I'm an extremist,' he admits. Indeed, this self-confessed fashion junkie is a Prada and Gucci clothes horse. His shelves are lined with copies of fash mag Uisionaire and lush coffee-table books on Bruce Weber and David LaChapelle. Deluxe brushed steel panelling frames his hi-fi. And he owns Philippe Starck dumb-bells, tumblers designed by iaber-hotelier lan Schrager and a super-cool Charles Eames chair.

But Shimshad's too offbeat to be a real fashion victim. Seeming to burst through one wall is the front of an outrageously funky multicoloured Pakistani bus: 'I don't want to forget my roots,' he says. 'I had the front sliced off and shipped here. It took a month to get through customs -they didn't know what duty to charge.'

Shimshad, single right now, admits women don't tend to warm to his techie pad (quelle surprise!). 'Mum took one look and said, "If you're happy, I'm happy",' he says. 'She was lying through her teeth! Girls find it too butch - severely lacking in plants. Still, one friend's having her hen night here.' And to be fair, Shimshad's no style dictator: 'If I got married, I'd definitely compromise. This place is too gadgety. I'd settle for a decor that we both liked.'

Favourite idea 'The bus, for its truly personal feel, as well as for the story that goes with it.'
Favourite gadget' My sound system. I love to drown myself in my music at full blast.'