Exchange Flat

London’s Spitalfields is a vibrant area of dense urban development with a rich history of commerce around its open-air market. It is an engaging place to live but, unlike most other places in London, has few parks or open green spaces. This situation became the inspiration for the renovation of a flat in which we speculated with the client; could we bring the atmosphere of their New England forest home into this converted industrial flat?

We imagined a variety of ways in which a garden could be brought into the flat and installed living walls along one half of the main living space. These are automatically irrigated and planted with ferns and herbaceous wildflowers reminiscent of a forest floor. The impact of all these plants, raised up into a wall, where they can be seen up close, is considerable. The greenery is integrated into the domestic setting by shelving units that run through the wall built from blackened mild steel. Additional furniture elements, such as bedside tables and an entry bench with shoe storage are also built from blackened steel and timber.

Lighting for the flat was custom-made from laser cut steel panels using patterns based on images of light filtering through tree branches. These were employed in strip, pendant and wall lights and used to cast organic patterns on the ceiling.

Photography: Agnese Sanvito