An Apartment in Regent’s Park

We designed this apartment for a young client with an extraordinary and confident sense of style and taste. Located in one of the finest terraces in Regent’s Park, the building had been badly bombed during World War 2 and had entirely lost its historic interiors as a result. A significant lateral apartment had been created which had been remodelled two or three times since the 1960s, most recently by the previous owners in a neo-classical French style.

Our client liked this backdrop, and we build upon much of the existing fabric in developing our design. We have a real policy within the studio to work with existing building detailing wherever it is well done and authentic – not least from a position of sustainability, and avoiding unnecessary waste. However, we did entirely remodel a poorly designed kitchen and bathroom, as well as creating a new library and media area in the drawing room.

The decoration of the rooms is intentionally spare and restrained, with an almost minimalist aesthetic in areas – the softest palette of grey and lilac is used in the living room and kitchen, but combined with a far more dramatic treatment in the central entrance hallway and master bedroom. A palette of dusky blue, the softest shell pink and taupe reverberates throughout, and provides a foil for our client’s wonderful collection of antique and mid-century furniture, and contemporary art.

An Arts and Crafts House

In 2013, we were engaged to work on the interior decoration of a substantial Edwardian house in Hampstead.

The fine house was in need of significant refurbishment, and we worked closely with the local Hampstead architects Charlton Brown in developing internal layouts and plans for the new owners, a recently-married young couple. These developed to include an underground swimming pool, new kitchen extension and a significant remodelling of some of the internal spaces.

We were responsible for designing all the panelling, kitchen, pantries and other architectural joinery within the house, before moving on to the wider interior decoration. Jointly with the clients, we drew inspiration from the Arts and Crafts, in particular the papers of William Morris, but in combination with other themes and strands that ranged from the late 19th century aesthetic movement, through mid-century modernism, to significant contemporary elements. We designed or sourced all fabrics, upholstery and furniture.

Surrounded by generous gardens and trees, the house has the hint of a rural atmosphere; this too provided part of the inspiration, and we used soft, natural materials and floor coverings. The mood is designed to be calm and tranquil, but to provide visual richness and stimulation throughout.

A Georgian House in Westminster

A stone’s throw from the Houses of Parliament, on one of the finest early Georgian streets in London, is this beautiful pair of houses that in 1906 had been combined to form a single dwelling.  After 40 years with the same family, the house was bought by new owners and we had a wonderful project working with them to repair and restore the interiors and the complete a programme of decoration.

We remodelled the whole house, moving the kitchen and bathrooms, restoring the staircase, putting back panelling, replacing walls that had been taken down – all steered brilliantly through Listed Building Consent (the house is Grade II* listed) by our senior design director Rupert Cunningham, who designed and oversaw the architectural project.

The interiors are intentionally simple, drawing on the original early 18th century character of the rooms, but with a playful sense of pattern, and a palimpsest of history, running through its veins.  We used extensive fabrics and papers from Watts of Westminster, Morris & Co and Robert Kime in developing a palette of soft, calm greys, taupes and greens, with splashes of burned red, yellow and Prussian blue throughout.

The garden was completely remodelled by Pip Morrison and we designed a metal glasshouse at the corner of the garden which catches the rays of the evening sun.