Recently we were asked to help revive an old institution in Cambridge, Fitzbillies. Famous for its Chelsea buns, sadly the building had seen better days.

Following a tweet by Stephen Fry mourning its closure, Alison and Tim Hayward decided to buy the business, Tim is the food writer for the Guardian and Financial Times. They took us on to  kick life back into the building. It was a scary moment, I had a very small budget, a building that was in dire need of work and delightful art nouveau façade to preserve. Whilst hanging out there in a very empty and rather smelly shop pulling together the designs and specifications, we had frequent knocks on the door by well dressed, elderly gentlemen, I guess retired dons. “I hope you aren’t going to change the place too much, I’ve been coming here for sixty years”. No pressure then.

Today the business is thriving, the Chelsea buns again world famous, they do dinner too - worth a trip up to Cambridge.

Many have asked where they can purchase the furniture as seen in the Evening Standard article. Material Life was the main supplier.

There are many badly made fakes of classic 20^th Century furniture available on the internet. Tempting, but would you buy a fake handbag?  Copies don’t last and you can tell they are not the real McCoy.

Brian and Stephen at Material Life supply the real thing from the likes of Vitra and Knoll for a lot less than can be found on the High Street.

Recently we completed the refurbishment of Tempo restaurant and bar in Mayfair for Henry Tonga. The establishment has been around for over 50 years and we worked in retaining its style and yet bringing it up to date. We re-used the original 50’s chairs now upholstered in Amalfi turquoise together with new tables covered in hand painted marbled glass. The real secret is upstairs, hidden there is a rather special bar, which features original Rococo panelling. The chef is Japanese trained in Italy, many say it’s one of the best Italian restaurants in London.

Located on one of the best locations in London, Curzon Street, which is always worth a visit, Saturday lunch is always a treat.

To link to Tempo click here

We were thrilled in the Studio to have an article on one of our latest projects published in Evening Standard’s Homes and Property section.

Ruth Bloomfield used the project as an example of how to make the best of a small apartment in central London, describing it as “intelligent design”.

To read the full article, please click here

The Studio recently attended a workshop on emerging tile trends presented by Taylor Howes and Surface Tiles.  Click here to watch an overview of the presentation complete with sound-bites from Dan.

Our personal favourites included the much improved and quite marvellous timber porcelain ranges, the patchwork mosaic in geometric shapes and patterns and the wonderful texture and relief now available in so many finishes.  Watch this space in 2013 where we will be showing you how we’ve used these trends in our current projects.

Tuesday 11th December 2012

As Director of Continuous Professional Development at the BIID, I have arranged the latest lecture which is crucial for those in professional practice.

I, like many other designers, have gained our knowledge of fire regulations for buildings and furnishings over many years of experience. However, we can all do with a refresher especially as the regulations are frequently updated.

For more information, click here.

The team has recently been working on a thirteen storey residential tower block in central Cairo. Bash and Gordon have completed the external elevations and have created an interesting entrance detail (as seen above). We are currently busy working on the space planning and internal finishes for the show and penthouse apartments, and as one buyer has bought an entire floor, we will also be drawing up proposals for layouts and finishes for that area too.

The entrance lobby has had no expense spared and our designs have all been approved and are currently in production. With our client’s deadlines rapidly approaching it has been a busy few weeks but we are all looking forward to seeing this high rise come to life.

Sometimes we dream of what our perfect project would be, and then one lands in the Studio: a wonderful chateau in the Languedoc region of the South of France.

We have been commissioned to bring back to life a 14^th Century chateau that has not been inhabited for close on twenty years.  We are currently working on both the building and the extensive grounds.  The project may just have started but we have already had a few adventures – I managed to discover the original electrician drinking in a café in a neighbouring village (I don’t mean the original 14^th Century one!), and convince him to step out of his retirement and help us get the lights back on in the building.

If you look at the turret on the left of the image, we will be installing a double height bathroom which in the Studio we are referring to as a ‘Loo with a View’.

We look forward to completing the project in mid-2013.

A previous client has returned to us very excitedly with a new apartment with the best views in London of Tower Bridge and The Shard.  It is a duplex penthouse apartment in one of the old warehouses which was renovated in the early 80’s.

We have been asked to shell the apartment and start again.  Here is an image of what we think the master bedroom and en-suite bathroom will look like.

It is always nice when a client returns, especially as there is already a certain trust and understanding in how each other works.  This results in an opportunity to create something quite daring and uncompromised.