Project in focus: GLOBE WALK

Downsizing never looked so good

The vast majority of people who leave London for “the country” don’t look back. For these fun-loving empty nesters, however, the draw of the capital proved impossible, and they returned to the big smoke with a mission to embrace all that London has to offer.

And what better place to do it than here at Globe Walk.

With unparalleled views across the River Thames to Tower Bridge and over to the inspiring architectural mastery of St Paul’s Cathedral, this fabulous project was an exercise in contemporary, understated luxury.

In this project over 2,000 square feet of lateral living space was ripped back to it’s bare bones. All the internal walls were re-configured, and spaces opened up to realise the client’s ambition of spacious open plan living, geared towards entertaining at the highest level.

The brief for this project was every designer’s dream.

With a full licence to design and build every piece of joinery within the apartment, we were able to create a harmonious, well-considered spaces for our client. Using a complementary palette of warm timbers and tonal colours, this allowed us to create flow throughout the open-plan spaces.

A fine balance

As a high-end professional cake-maker, our client needed her kitchen to function as a workspace, without looking like a commercial kitchen. Creating this balance wasn’t easy.

Opting for no less than two sleek Bora Professional induction hobs and a teppanyaki plate with downdraft extraction we were able to circumvent the need for a large overhead extractor. As well as being incredibly practical to clean, these flush-mounted hobs blend into the kitchen island, which is ideal in these hybrid kitchen/dining spaces.

Not wishing to completely hide the practicality of this space, we designed a statement hanging pot rack with an integrated feature LED lighting system.

Building lighting into the rack allows optimal task lighting when cooking and a lovely warm glow when entertaining.

The cabinetry with solid oak detailing and oak veneered internals were spray-painted in a soft grey. For the worktop, we used a fresh concrete quartz slab on the wall run and a show stopping raw concrete quartz slab for the island. We did this to draw attention to the island, and show off its cantilevered features.

These different tones and materials added depth and interest to a space intended to feel clean, simple and contemporary. We added a brass strip detail on the handrails to highlight the handle recess.

Continuing with the oak themed palette that we used in the kitchen and living space, we panelled the master suite in the same rich oak veneer. This veneer continued through to the custom full height, frameless doors that we designed with concealed pivoting hinges for an added element of understated luxury. Meticulously detailed shadow gaps and close attention to proportions gave the space a calming and soothing feel.

So for now, I reside myself to evenings of scooping up an array of plastic toys that litter my living room floor. I find solace in remembering this project and live in the comfort that one day, I too may be lucky enough to downsize into a similarly quiet zone of zen!

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