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      Webb Yates creates structural stone frame for Royal Academy summer exhibition

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      A post-tensioned stone frame by engineering firm Webb Yates is among the exhibits in the architecture rooms of this year’s Royal Academy of Arts summer exhibition, curated by London studio Assemble.

      Webb Yates worked with The Stonemasonry Company to create a frame made from cored cylinders of waste limestone joined together with tensioned steel rods, aiming to showcase stone as a modern, low-carbon structural material.
      It is one of the many pieces displayed at the annual Royal Academy of Arts summer exhibition, which is open until 18 August, and is part of the architecture section curated by Assemble around the theme “spaces for making”.
      A post-tensioned stone frame is on display at the Royal Academy summer exhibition”Webb Yates and The Stonemasonry Company have been advocating a return to stone structure to reduce carbon and pollution,” Webb Yates cofounder Steve Webb told Dezeen.
      “Many people construe this as a suggestion to return to the massive stone structures of the past but we want to reimagine how stone can be used by modern engineers and stone masons.”

      “The pylon demonstrates how post-tensioning slim stone elements can achieve strength and rigidity at a fraction of the carbon cost,” he continued.
      Webb Yates Engineers used steel rods to connect cored limestone cylindersDisplayed in the octagonal central hall at The Royal Academy of Arts, the stone structure is imagined as an alternative to building with steel, Webb explained.
      “Imagine crane masts, bridges or space frames like the Eden Centre and Stadium Australia being formed with stone elements instead of steel,” he said.
      “With a world-saving 75 per cent carbon reduction, inherent durability and fire resistance, we can put waste stone to use and make some really pretty structures.”
      Assemble curated two rooms at the exhibitionThe stone structure is displayed alongside architectural models, material samples, drawings and photographs in the architecture rooms – a regular feature at the annual summer exhibition, which also showcases various mediums of art.
      Other stone pieces in the show included a model of Artefact’s Brick from Stone installation and a column segment designed by Palestinian architects AAU Anastas, which is made up of a bulging piece of stone sandwiched between two stone fragments taken from a demolished building in Bethlehem.
      One gallery is designed as an industrial storage spaceAssemble, which was elected a member of the Royal Academy of Arts in 2022, arranged the architecture exhibit across two rooms.
      Aiming to reflect the profession’s working processes, the central hall is curated as a studio-like display of works and the adjacent gallery is designed to appear like an architectural storage space, with exhibition pieces displayed on industrial shelving.

      Why aren’t more architects using stone as a building material?

      “We wanted to approach the two rooms slightly differently and show architecture in the space that it’s usually made,” Assemble’s Kaye Song told Dezeen.
      “We’re used to seeing architecture models and drawings presented in such a pristine way but that’s not usually the context you view finished architecture works,” Song added.
      “One gallery we’ve turned into an industrial storage-like space using off-the-shelf products like palette racking and wall-mounted brackets, and the other room has taken an artist’s studio approach.”
      Exhibits are displayed on industrial shelvingHanging from a skylight in the central hall are sheets made of biomaterials by artists Jessie French and Shanelle Ueyama. Surrounding them are mosaic panels by volunteers at the Hackney Mosaic Project and a glass sculpture by designer Yinka Ilori.
      In the adjacent room on the industrial shelving, which will be reused elsewhere after the exhibition closes, is a set of tools by sculptor James Capper, architecture models and casts by architecture studio Stanton Williams and rammed-earth stools by ceramic artist Lyson Marchessault.
      AAU Anastas also contributed stone exhibits to the exhibitionAssemble founding member Maria Lisogorskaya explained that a wide range of designs from different types of makers, not just architects, were chosen to create an engaging exhibition.
      “We wanted to showcase the breadth of the profession with models, tools, material samples and community projects, not just individual projects,” said Lisogorskaya.
      Tools by James Capper are among the other exhibits”There’s a range of people; there’s architects, product designers, structural engineers, fashion designers, musicians, scientists, community organisations,” Lisogorskaya continued.
      “We wanted to have a really broad net of people together under one roof to make for a more dynamic show.”
      Also taking place is the London Festival of Architecture, for which an eclectic range of benches has been installed on the Royal Docks and Unknown Works has constructed The Armadillo pavilion from eucalyptus wood.
      The photography is by Kaye Song.
      The Royal Academy of Arts summer exhibition takes place from 18 June to 18 August 2024 at Burlington House in London. See Dezeen Events Guide for an up-to-date list of architecture and design events taking place around the world.

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      Design Centre, Chelsea Harbour reveals Wow!house 2024 in exclusive Dezeen video

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      Design Centre, Chelsea Harbour is hosting the third edition of Wow!house, a purpose-built showhome in London exhibiting works by international designers, as seen in this video produced by Dezeen for the interiors hub.

      Designers were invited to showcase their designs in separate rooms of the house over which they are given complete creative control.
      Wow!house 2024 is held at Design Centre, Chelsea Harbour and features 19 rooms by international designersThere are 19 custom rooms in total at Wow!house, including a study by Anahita Rigby and a Zimmer + Rohde bedroom by Tolu Adẹ̀kọ́.
      “It’s about accessing all of these creatives under one roof,” says Claire German, CEO of Design Centre, Chelsea Harbour in the exclusive Dezeen video interview.
      The Home Bar was created by OZA Design and draws inspiration from Western and Eastern culturesThe Home Bar was designed by OZA Design with the aim of bringing together Western and Eastern cultures.

      “We wanted the guests to come on a journey… like on the Orient Express,” said OZA Design’s Alexandre Simeray.
      The Zimmer + Rohde Bedroom Suite was designed by Adẹ̀kọ́ & Co. Studio.
      “We want it to take guests away from what would be the normal, expected bedroom and create something quite… unusual,” said the studio’s founder Tolu Adẹ̀kọ́.
      The Zimmer + Rohde Bedroom Suite was created by London-based designer Tolu Adẹ̀kọ́”Exhibiting at Wow!House means a great deal to me personally,” he went on to explain.
      “Being the first British-Nigerian designer selected to work on the space and to show the public what could be done from a small studio based in southeast London.”
      The House of Rohl Primary Bathroom features a painted landscape above a circular bath tubA large circular bath takes centre stage in the House of Rohl Primary Bathroom by Michaelis Boyd, which sits within an alcove with a painted dome on top.
      The Study was designed by Anahita Rigby and fuses Georgian and Japanese design principles.
      The Study at Wow!house features Georgian and Japanese aestheticsRigby mentioned that she was inspired by the objects people bring home from their travels abroad.
      “Falling in love with something on holiday and bringing it home and it’s your new favourite thing you put on your mantelpiece… it’s what interiors are all about,” said Rigby.
      German cites the “incredible” level of detail in each room, noting that the importance of the ceiling continued as a theme throughout the home. “The designers have used it as the fifth wall,” she explained.

      Design Centre, Chelsea Harbour to host WOW!house 2024

      Design Centre, Chelsea Harbour has stated that the materials used throughout the home will be repurposed, or returned whenever possible, while rooms such as the Martin Moore kitchen will be re-installed in a new location after the event.
      There will be a programme of events, including tours of WOW!house, open to the public until 4 July 2024.
      WOW!house runs from 4 June to 4 July 2024 at Design Centre, Chelsea Harbour in London. See Dezeen Events Guide for an up-to-date list of architecture and design events taking place around the world.
      Partnership content
      This video was produced by Dezeen for the Design Centre, Chelsea Harbour as part of a partnership. Find out more about Dezeen’s partnership content here.

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      Lina Stores South Kensington designed to “evoke the rhythm” of Italian espresso bars

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      Interiors studio North End Design has applied the distinctive pistachio green synonymous with London’s popular Italian delicatessen and restaurant chain Lina Stores to the company’s newly opened branch in South Kensington.

      Positioned on the corner of Exhibition Road and Thurloe Square, the South Kensington restaurant is the seventh outpost of the well-known deli, which opened in Soho in 1944.
      The Lina Stores team worked with local studio North End Design to create an interior that balances the chain’s history with its most recent location.
      Lina Stores South Kensington includes the brand’s distinctive pistachio green”For South Kensington specifically, we added a more elevated look to mirror the neighbourhood,” Lina Stores told Dezeen.
      The brand’s “signature” pale green clads the facade, from which the deli’s recognisable stripy awning protrudes.

      Inside, the designers centred the restaurant around an open kitchen counter and coffee bar that wraps one side of the eatery and is topped with dark timber and stainless steel.
      The designers centred the restaurant around an open kitchen counterThis feature was chosen to reference the hustle and bustle found in traditional Roman and Milanese espresso bars.
      “These bars tend to be at the centre of their communities, which is very much how we see our restaurants and delicatessen when we open in a new neighbourhood,” explained the brand.
      Mismatched bentwood chairs provide seatingMismatched bentwood chairs and deep green banquettes were arranged around rectilinear tiled tables to create seating areas across the restaurant, which features a ceiling painted the same distinctive pistachio as the facade.
      Plump, leather-upholstered stools with fat cream-hued piping were also positioned at the bar – the focal point of the eatery where “everything happens”.
      Black and white photography and newspaper cuttings line the wallsThe team dressed the space with steel columns and beams – taking cues from classical Milanese colonnades – and painted them dark green “to evoke the rhythm of the architecture of Milan”, said Lina Stores.
      Chequerboard flooring features throughout the space, finished in a mixture of dark green mosaic and terrazzo tiles.
      Gloss lacquered sapele wall panelling matches the dark timber of the chairsGloss lacquered sapele wall panelling matches the dark timber of the dining chairs, while second-hand Tuscan credenzas and cabinets were sourced as waiter stations.
      “They were included for an elevated, vintage look,” Lina Stores said.
      Chequerboard flooring features throughout the spaceAcross the restaurant’s walls, a selection of vintage Italian black and white photography was combined with framed newspaper cuttings documenting Lina Stores’ history.
      “The collection and positioning of the artwork throughout the space has a spontaneous feel to it, like a wall at an old cafe that’s been added to organically over time,” explained the brand.

      Pirajean Lees draws on Japanese and Spanish design for Kioku restaurant and bar

      North End Design also added “opaline” globe lighting to the eatery, in a nod to the same bulbs illuminating Lina Stores’ original Brewer Street deli.
      “We take an individual approach to each one of our locations so no Lina Stores restaurant and delicatessen looks the same,” said the brand.
      “While all the restaurants are very much inspired by our first delicatessen, we see them as extensions and a way to further develop and bring in different elements of Italian design.”
      Globe lighting nods to the Brewer Street deliArchitecture studio Red Deer designed the first of the Lina Stores restaurants on Greek Street, minutes from the original deli. French designer Olivier Delannoy recently created the interiors for Daroco restaurant located just around the corner.
      The photography is by Adam Firman. 

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      Pirajean Lees draws on Japanese and Spanish design for Kioku restaurant and bar

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      Studio Pirajean Lees paired oxblood tiles with intricate wooden joinery at the Kioku sushi restaurant and sake bar, within central London’s OWO hotel, to reference the head chef ‘s travels.

      Kioku consists of a bar on the ground floor and a restaurant on the top floor of the hotel within the Grade II*-listed Old War Office on Whitehall, which once housed the British government’s military departments.
      Pirajean Lees created Kioku, meaning “memory” in Japanese, to capture sushi master Endo Kazutoshi’s recollections of living and working in Japan and Spain.
      Kioku bar is located on the ground floor of The OWOLocated on the ground floor of the hotel, the single-room bar is accessed via a door framed with smooth timber joinery informed by the traditional Japanese carpentry technique Sashimono.
      Guests are greeted by a bespoke oak reception desk featuring embroidered floral textiles and mesh detailing as well as a light-controlled sake cellar clad with patchwork cork panels.

      All of Kioku’s furniture was custom-made by Pirajean Lees, explained studio co-founder James Lees.
      The bar features a light-controlled sake cellar”We share a passion for storytelling and an obsession with details, from the way your hand touches the backrest of a chair, to the height of the table,” said the designer.
      “From the outset, we knew that the level of attention to detail in the interior had to match that found in the food being served.”
      Japanese records can be played on a bespoke turntableThe bar’s floor plan was subtly stepped to provide “elevated views” for each of its intimate seating areas, rather than relegate guests to hidden corners of the room, said Lees.
      A wide selection of sake is served at an oversized and curved central bar designed with knobbly timber cladding.
      Kioku restaurant is located on the hotel’s rooftopHandcrafted tiles and a gridded carpet finished in oxblood red were used to create the flooring, while deep red dado and natural clay walls also nod to the space’s Spanish influence.
      In one corner, a bespoke turntable is positioned for guests to play a selection of Japanese records from Endo’s personal collection.
      Bow details were carved into the dining chairsThe Kioku restaurant is contained within a long room on the north side of the hotel’s rooftop, with panoramic views of central London. Entered through timber double doors, the eatery features similar design accents to the bar.
      Wooden frames and boxy mirrored “portals” were used to delineate spaces within the main dining area, which includes L-shaped banquettes and oak dining chairs upholstered with Japanese embroidered silk.
      The chef’s table was positioned opposite the open kitchenBow details were carved into the chairs to emulate the seating at Endo’s favourite hotel in the city of Yokohama. Subtle versions of the bow motif are echoed downstairs on the bar’s wooden tables.
      Pirajean Lees constructed a private dining room with a chef’s table at one end of the restaurant, built above an intimate outdoor cigar terrace that overlooks The OWO’s central courtyard.
      Panoramic views of central London can be seen from the main terraceEncased by a curved glass roof, the extension was positioned opposite the open kitchen to allow guests to watch their dishes being prepared. Retractable mesh screens were also fitted for privacy.
      The main terrace includes timber dining tables and chairs with Mediterranean-style terracotta and mustard upholstery surrounded by lush plants.

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      At the end of the terrace, a historic turret overlooking St James’ Park and Horse Guards Parade features another eight-seat private dining room with soft linen curtains and an oak table illuminated by an oversized rice paper pendant light.
      Pirajean Lees chose a striking yellow rug for the circular floor to reference the sun, while the round ceiling was hand-painted with an inky indigo mural by British artist Tess Newall in an ode to the contrasting moon – recognisable motifs found in Japanese mythology.
      A historic turret houses another private dining space”We design to create emotional spaces grounded in their story, rather than interiors purely driven by aesthetics,” reflected studio co-founder Clémence Pirajean.
      Founded in 2017 by Pirajean and Lees, the studio has applied its eclectic style to various other London projects – from the “timeless” interiors of music venue Koko’s members’ club to a Mayfair restaurant with an Arts and Crafts-style design.
      The photography is by Polly Tootal.

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      Tutto Bene balances steel and mirrors with wood and leather in Nightingale restaurant

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      Design studio Tutto Bene drew on “the sombre elegance of theatre and museum lobby cafes” when creating the interiors for the Nightingale restaurant in London.

      The 60-square-metre space, which opens to a courtyard in London’s Mayfair neighbourhood, references Viennese coffee houses, known locally as Kaffeehäuser.
      “We thought London is missing spaces with the atmosphere that we know Kaffeehäuser for,” Tutto Bene co-founder Oskar Kohnen told Dezeen.
      Nightingale’s interior draws on Vienna’s coffee housesNightingale’s “stage-like” dining room was also informed by “the sombre elegance of theatre and museum lobby cafes”, Kohnen said.
      “Nightingale’s sloped ceiling, abundant drops of fabric curtains, as well as the curtain-like wall panelling play on this idea,” he explained.

      The restaurant has a colour palette that emphasises green and cream colours, with a floor made of cement tiles in various green hues.
      A pale green floor contrasts with white wallsCream-coloured walls and curtains contrast against silvery details, with a monolithic stainless-steel bar functioning as the room’s centrepiece.
      “The courtyard plant life suggested the green colour,” studio co-founder Felizia Berchtold told Dezeen.
      “Based on this we added light and shadow through layers of black and white,” she added. “The surfaces interacting with the daylight create an abundance of hues in an overall calm tonality. It’s simple but dramatic.”
      Tutto Bene added a stainless-steel counter as a centrepieceMirrored, tiled columns add to the theatrical feel of the space, for which Berchtold also designed the sculptural Satellite Pendant, a spinning chandelier.
      It was manufactured by the Austrian brand Kalmar, which has a history of designing lights for Viennese coffee houses, and features pleated cream lampshades that orbit around a steel axis.

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      “I initially drew the lamp during my travels in Japan last spring,” Berchtold said.
      “It was inspired by paintings of sea roses and the craft of fan making, as well as ideas around motion and dance. We developed the design together throughout the year.”
      Felizia Berchtold designed the Satellite Pendant lamp for the restaurantKalmar’s vintage glass scones decorate the mirrored glass columns, while Tutto Bene’s angular Sketch lamp sits on the wait station and its round Oblo lights can be found on the ridged walls.
      The studio also worked with a variety of materials to give the space a tactile feel.
      Nightingale features tables made from burl wood and stainless steel, which was also used for the bar and as a detail on the wait station, where it contrasts against swathes of cream cloth.
      The studio also designed the furniture for the spaceTutto Bene’s Cafe Chair, made from stained wood and saddle leather, was used for seating along with wooden benches in the same style.
      “The material palette balances crisp and formal materials such as steel and tiles with texture and playful warmth, resembled in the ever-changing drapes of fabric, the burl wood tables and saddle leather chairs,” Berchtold said.
      Tutto Bene recently created a Streamline Moderne-informed New York store for eyewear brand Cubitts. Also in Mayfair, design studio Pirajean Lees designed an Arts-and-Crafts inspired restaurant called 20 Berkeley.
      The photography is by Ludovic Balay.

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      Tabitha Isobel gives London townhouse a “surprising and bold” makeover

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      Designer Tabitha Organ combined natural materials with metal details to transform this London townhouse into a home with a “slightly futuristic” feel for a client who loves entertaining.

      The five-storey property on St Pauls Road had recently been renovated by a developer using poor-quality finishes, so the client – a young tech entrepreneur and first-time homeowner – asked Organ’s studio Tabitha Isobel to create a more bespoke interior.
      The brief called for a scheme that retains the Victorian house’s original features, whilst layering vintage pieces and contemporary design to create spaces with a distinct character.
      Tabitha Isobel transformed the Victorian north London townhouse”The client wanted a home that would be surprising and bold but also timeless,” Organ told Dezeen. “Amongst his peers, he is a frequent host of parties so he wanted an interior that would be a backdrop to these and bring a certain entertaining ‘vibe’.”
      Some of the original details that survived the previous renovation included detailed mouldings and the wooden window shutters in the living areas.

      Organ sought to emphasise these elements by introducing a carefully chosen palette of complementary colours and materials. Other spaces received a more expressive treatment, including the golden-toned cinema and DJ room in the basement.
      The five-storey property’s renovation adopts a “slightly futuristic” feelThe main architectural interventions occurred on the first floor, where previously disjointed spaces were reorganised to create a large bedroom with an adjoining bathroom and dressing area.
      The bedroom, which has windows on two sides due to the property’s end-of-terrace location, is connected to the bathroom by a walk-through wardrobe containing bespoke cabinetry built from naturally patterned burr walnut.
      New bespoke features include an adjoining walk-through wardrobeThe house’s main living areas are unified by the consistent application of green hues and metal details, which featured in an image of a kitchen given to Organ by the client as inspiration at the beginning of the project.
      “As the living and dining area is open plan with the kitchen, we introduced a Verde Guaco Green fireplace surround that sits on the same elevation as the kitchen so the tones speak to each other,” Organ explained.
      “We also chose a green velvet sofa from Maison Dara that is positioned in line with the kitchen, helping the spaces to feel connected.”
      Green hues and metal details inform the house’s living areasThe designer added that the combination of natural materials and metal surfaces contributes to the scheme’s sense of timelessness while creating a juxtaposition of textures and finishes that adds visual interest to the design.
      “As part of the concept, we wanted the spaces to have a slightly futuristic feel to them,” she pointed out. “Metals are timeless materials and I find they lift palettes, bringing them to life and creating a richness through reflection and depth.”

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      Metal and wood combine in a bespoke solution designed to conceal the television above the fireplace. Eight hand-carved wooden panels are set within a brushed aluminium frame that incorporates bi-fold doors that open to reveal the TV.
      Throughout the home, textiles provide a further textural contrast to the hard metal surfaces. This approach is encapsulated by a vintage metal-framed armchair in the living room that was reupholstered in a boldly patterned fabric by UK brand Schumacher.
      A reupholstered metal-framed armchair provides textural contrastWhile the living area and bedroom are predominantly monochrome, there are moments of bright colour elsewhere in the home – particularly in the en-suite shower room.
      Organ chose terracotta tiles with different scales to bring a sense of richness and warmth to the space. The walk-in shower is lined with cobalt blue tiles intended to introduce a surprising element.
      Terracotta tiles in the en suite shower room provide a sense of richness and warmthA cinema room located on the basement level was designed to resemble a moodily lit members’ club, with a cotton moire wall covering matched to a high-gloss painted ceiling and mid-gloss cabinetry.
      The room is used for hosting parties and includes a concealed home bar with stainless steel shelves set in front of a bronze-tinted mirror.
      Marble and metal wall lights illuminate the textured walls as well as a velvet sofa with oversized cushions, a vintage coffee table and a bespoke walnut DJ console crafted by furniture maker Spinback.
      The cinema room conceals a stainless steel home bar in front of a bronze-tinted mirrorOrgan founded Tabitha Isobel in 2023 after working for a decade as an interior designer for London-based studios Conran + Partners and Sella Concept.
      The designer’s approach focuses on combining historical and contemporary elements to create timeless spaces driven by authenticity rather than trends.
      Other creative townhouse transformations include a Brussels home with a skylit atrium and a London home that was given a 1970s-style makeover.
      The photography is by Genevieve Lutkin.

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      Lanterns dangle through hole between floors in “UK’s most expensive steak” restaurant

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      Interiors studio Rosendale Design used paper pendants to illuminate hand-painted red-and-gold walls in the first overseas outpost of Japanese steakhouse Aragawa in London.

      Set across two floors in a Mayfair townhouse, the restaurant is widely credited as serving the “UK’s most expensive steak” – a £900 cut of wagyu beef from Shiga prefecture.
      Rosendale Design created the interiors for a Japanese steakhouse in MayfairCharacterised by a rich palette of deep reds, golds and dark woods, the interior of the steakhouse was “heavily influenced by traditional Japanese architecture and design”, Rosendale Design founder Dale Atkinson told Dezeen.
      “We gave it a contemporary twist in a subtle way so it didn’t become kitsch,” he said.
      Pendant lights dangle through a void between the ground floor and basementUpon entering Aragawa, visitors pass through an archway that frames a wood-panelled reception area painted in pale green.

      From here, a corridor leads past a wine display cabinet that wraps around the back wall with skylights providing natural illumination.
      A private dining room with seats for 12 guests is accessed through glass and wood doors, with a slatted wooden screen partially obstructing the view into the space.
      A Japanese kiln is surrounded by blue tiles in the kitchenPendant lamps that take cues from traditional Japanese paper lanterns hang through a mirror-lined void between the ground floor and the basement, providing views of the main restaurant below.
      “The lanterns are one of the key features that are first experienced at ground level but drop down through the opening in the floor and are then a prevalent feature in the main dining room,” said Atkinson.
      “We looked at traditional Japanese lanterns and gave it a bit of a contemporary twist.”
      More lanterns hang from the latticed ceiling in the dining roomStairs lead down to the restaurant past an open kitchen, divided from the seating area via an uplit rough-textured counter.
      Cornflower-blue tiles clad the walls in the kitchen, where Rosendale Design installed a Japanese kiln.

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      Used to prepare Aragawa’s speciality, Japanese Kobe beef, the kiln was modelled on the model found in the original Aragawa restaurant in Tokyo, which opened in 1967 and became known as one of the priciest steak houses in the world.
      “The feature kiln is the main connection between the restaurants in Tokyo and London,” said Atkinson.
      “We worked with a local manufacturer to copy as best we could the kiln in Tokyo but dress it in a way that matches the London design ethos.”
      Hand-painted red-and-gold panels line the walls of the dining spaceMore lanterns are suspended from the dark wood lattice ceiling in the primary dining space.
      “The feature ceiling is referencing traditional Japanese castles,” explained Atkinson.
      Soft lighting illuminates the red-and-gold panels that line the walls of the dining area, hand-painted with patterns derived from Nishijin silk kimonos.
      Rosendale Design opted for crimson-red velvet-lined seatingThe red colour palette is continued in the red velvet-lined seating, contrasting against white tablecloths.
      “We made sure to play with the saturation of colours to make it more dramatic and romantic,” said Atkinson.
      Other Japanese restaurants recently featured on Dezeen include a noodle restaurant in a century-old townhouse in Kyoto and a restaurant in Alberta that combines Japanese psychedelia and cabins.
      The photography is by Justin De Souza.

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      Gubi opens first UK showroom in London townhouse takeover

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      A Georgian townhouse filled with period details is now Gubi House London, the first dedicated showroom that the furniture brand has opened outside Denmark.

      Gubi partnered with Danish surface design studio File Under Pop to reimagine the listed building as a showspace for its collection, which includes furniture by designers such as GamFratesi and Space Copenhagen.
      Gubi House London occupies a listed Georgian townhouseA curated colour palette combines with material finishes including Spanish clay tiles and Italian lava stone to create four floors of rooms with a contemporary feel.
      “To be in a townhouse is a unique opportunity,” explained Marie Kristine Schmidt, chief brand officer for Gubi.
      Furniture is on display across four different floors”We could create something very domestic in feel. We have smaller rooms where we can create different experiences and we can tell different stories on each floor,” she told Dezeen.

      The showroom is located on Charterhouse Square, a garden square framed by cobbled streets, and will be open by appointment.
      Danish surface design studio File Under Pop oversaw the colour and material paletteGubi was founded in 1967 by furniture designers Lisbeth and Gubi Olsen, who later handed it down to their sons, Jacob and Sebastian Gubi Olsen. Jacob is still a shareholder and a member of the board.
      The London expansion was first mooted in 2020, not long after the once family-owned company was acquired by Nordic private equity group Axcel and the Augustinus Foundation.
      Furniture on show includes the Croissant Sofa designed by Ilum Wikkelsø in 1962Schmidt said the UK is a key market for the brand as it looks to expand its intentional profile.
      “London is a melting pot right now, particularly in the hotel and restaurant scene, so for us, it is a really important city to be in,” she said during a tour of the building.
      “I think there is a lot of untapped potential for us here.”
      A ground-floor dining room features hand-painted forest-green wallpaperEach floor of Gubi House London has its own character, drawing on different influences reflected in the materials and fabrics that feature in across the product collection.
      The ground floor, described as “boutique chic”, features a trio of spaces designed to emulate the sense of comfort and luxury of a boutique hotel.
      Also on the ground floor, a blue fireplace sits behind the Moon dining tableKey details include a fireplace colour-blocked in a deep inky shade of blue, which serves as a backdrop to the brand’s Moon dining table and Bat dining chairs.
      Also on display here are several reissued 20th-century lamps, including designs by Finnish designer Paavo Tynell, Danish architect Louis Weisdorf and Swedish designer Greta M Grossman.
      The first-floor rooms take cues from the 1970sTowards the rear, a room with hand-painted forest-green wallpaper serves as a dining space.
      The first floor takes cues from the 1970s, with an earthy colour palette.

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      Key pieces here include the Pacha lounge chair, a 1975 design by the late French designer Pierre Paulin, upholstered in a striped fabric and a cascading arrangement of the Semi Pendant lamps, designed in 1968 by Danish design duo Claus Bonderup and Torsten Thorup.
      This floor also includes a bar, which serves as a centrepiece in the smaller of the two rooms.
      The second floor was envisioned as a co-working environmentThe second floor was envisioned as a co-working environment, with furniture that emulates a contemporary bistro, while the uppermost level offers a more bohemian feel.
      “We wanted to create a space that is inspiring,” said Schmidt. “It wouldn’t be right for our brand to go into a commercial space.”
      Gubi House London is located at 12 Charterhouse SquareThe experience is different from the warehouse feel of Gubi’s Copenhagen headquarters, which occupies a former tobacco factory in the waterside Nordhavn area.
      “This is how we see Gubi in the context of the UK,” added Schmidt.
      “It was fun to play with a building that is so pleasant and give it a very fresh, modern, contemporary look.”
      In Copenhagen, Danish brand &Tradition took over a townhouse during design festival 3 Days of Design, while fellow Danish brand Hay unveiled its renovated Copenhagen townhouse in 2021.
      The photography is by Michael Sinclair.

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