The Mews | Charles Tashima Architecture

Originally built for carriage houses with living quarters above, ‘The Mews’ is located at the end of a row of buildings in Central London. An iron crane and bridge still adorn the front of the building, evidence of its industrial past. Just prior to the alterations, the building was being used as offices.

Together with our client, our ambition was to first reveal the building's history by removing all plasterboard. This exposed original brickwork, arch recesses and ceiling joists. In addition to celebrating the building’s historic fabric, the design was inspired by the introduction of two furniture pieces: a dark timber armoire with drawers and a salvaged fragment of an Edwardian pub unit, which we found at a reclamation yard. The design was assembled organically and seamlessly, blending in book shelving, wardrobes, new kitchen and services, reclaimed and new finishes as well as our client’s work, books and objects.

We rationalised and increased the height of the attic floor to create a south-facing, open plan studio with full-width windows on the pitch of the rear mansard. The windows were etched in order to ensure a diffused light best suited for painting.

Most important to the design and its atmospheric richness is the manner in which our client has occupied and lived in the property - filling it with books, objects, curiosities as well as working materials and paintings. The photos shown here were taken over ten years after the work was completed.