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ARCHITECTURE
Studio McW
INTERIOR
Studio McW
STYLING
Studio Calvagno
PHOTOGRAPHY
Lorenzo Zandri
EDITOR
Gina
Collection

Studio McW has completed the comprehensive renovation and extension of a terraced house in South West London, resulting in a refined home primed for hosting. The Victorian property, owned by founders of bespoke luxury catering business Opus 11 – Charlie and Joshua Karlsen – offers a composed and serene setting for effortless hospitality.

The clients asked Studio McW to expand the ground floor to form a contemporary kitchen and dining space, and add a new level to the home by converting the loft into a guest bedroom with an ensuite. Working closely with their clients, Studio McW has delivered an open-plan forever home that reflects Charlie and Joshua’s love for entertaining and can be adapted as their family grows. The couple host monthly Friday night dinners for clients, collaborators and colleagues, an opportunity for their guests to ‘revel in what they do’. The renewed layout is flexible, allowing for a natural flow between spaces and soft ambience for social gatherings, no matter the occasion.

To realise the true potential of the home Studio McW stripped the split-level property, which had previously been divided into three bedsit flats, back to its shell. The building structure was in varying states of condition, resulting in Studio McW rebuilding the precarious brick outrigger and re-using the masonry to create more thermally comfortable and efficient spaces with new insulation and replacement sash windows. The entire front exterior walls were insulated internally, to maintain the street facing external Victorian detailing.

Studio McW added a side extension to allow the clients and their guests to enjoy the full width of the property; it is importantly proportioned to accommodate a twelve-seater dining table and banquette seating, maximising hosting potential. A modest 1 metre rear extension completes the ground floor plan, bringing swathes of natural light into the kitchen through striking 2.4 metre tall glazed doors and a romantic curved skylight, leading on to the newly hardscaped rear garden.

The true star of the ground floor is a bespoke smoked oak and marble kitchen. A monolithic Violetta marble kitchen island offers informal gathering space, set against a backdrop of cabinetry punctuated by a vast curved alcove, where the marble backsplash extends to fill the entire area. Handmade arched oak joinery, designed by Studio McW and crafted by long-term collaborator, Idle Furniture, softens the marble, adding warmth and balance. The sleek smoked-oak kitchen is gracefully integrated, tucking away appliances within cabinetry to create a polished and inviting space for hosting.

The main bedroom is an airy space softened by textured lime wash walls, an expansive, custom bouclé headboard, and rippling floor-to-ceiling curtains that frame a turret bay window. Borrowing space from above, the turret has been opened up to create a generous ceiling height and angled focal point; this architectural intervention adds more visual value than the small amount of storage it could have offered in the loft conversion. An arched wall niche opposite the bed adds another softness to the space, nodding to the curves incorporated throughout. The top levels feature a sumptuous pink guest bedroom and family bathroom, and the loft has been converted into a third bedroom with an ensuite shower room.

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