Old Street Penthouse, Central London

A contemporary bachelor penthouse designed around its owner and the London skyline

Set high above Central London, this Old Street penthouse presented us with two equally important starting points: an extraordinary view across the city and a client with an eclectic mix of interests and passions.

Our brief was to create a contemporary and highly functional home that felt sophisticated without becoming overly formal. The apartment needed to reflect our client’s personality and the way he lived, incorporating his love of books, vinyl, art and cycling while ensuring that the spectacular London skyline remained an integral part of the interior.

Rather than designing simply around a particular aesthetic, we approached each room by considering how our client wanted to use it.

Designing around the view

The open-plan living room was conceived as the main space for relaxing and entertaining.

We kept the underlying palette relatively neutral, allowing the client’s artwork, vinyl collection and books to introduce colour and personality. A mixture of natural and man-made materials adds texture and depth while retaining the calm, contemporary atmosphere.

One of the biggest design challenges was a bespoke media unit spanning an entire wall. Designed specifically for the apartment and made for us in Greece, it accommodates the television, AV equipment and speakers while carefully concealing the associated cabling and technology.

Furniture placement required particular consideration. Our client wanted a generous, comfortable sofa facing the television, but the spectacular view lies in the opposite direction.

Rather than compromise, we designed an additional bespoke sofa element to work alongside the main L-shaped seating. This allows the room to be enjoyed in both directions, whether watching television, looking across London or entertaining friends for cocktails.

The seating sits on a bespoke wool and silk rug incorporating gold-leaf detailing, helping to connect the living and dining areas within the larger open-plan space.

A home shaped around its owner

Understanding our client’s interests became an important part of the design.

As an avid cyclist, he wanted a dedicated home gym where his bicycles could be both stored and easily accessed. Rather than treating them purely as equipment to be hidden away, we used timber slats to create a contemporary storage and display solution. The bikes become part of the room’s character, while the timber introduces warmth and texture.

His love of reading influenced the design throughout the apartment too.

Generous bookshelves were incorporated into the rooms, while niches within the bespoke sofa and coffee table provide additional places for books and magazines. These details might appear small, but they came directly from understanding our client’s routines, including his habit of reading first thing in the morning and before going to sleep.

Throughout the bedrooms, linen wallcoverings, leather finishes, plush carpets and silk bedding soften the more masculine elements of the scheme and introduce a quiet sense of luxury.

Taking the design outside

For a Central London apartment, outdoor space is a real luxury, and this penthouse has two balconies connected to the living room and principal bedroom.

We treated these as extensions of the interior rather than separate spaces, ensuring the furniture and materials related naturally to the adjoining rooms.

Deep green accents and natural timber introduce colour and warmth while providing a subtle reference to nature high above the city.

At 34 storeys above London, the view inevitably remains one of the defining features of the apartment. Our aim was never to compete with it, but to create an interior that allowed our client to enjoy it while still feeling completely at home.

The finished penthouse is contemporary, masculine and sophisticated, but above all personal. From bespoke furniture and concealed technology to bicycle storage and places for books, every element responds to the person living there.

For us, that is what makes an interior truly individual: not simply how it looks, but how closely it reflects the life being lived within it.