{"id":580223,"date":"2025-11-19T10:32:18","date_gmt":"2025-11-19T10:32:18","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/580223\/"},"modified":"2025-11-19T10:32:18","modified_gmt":"2025-11-19T10:32:18","slug":"a-former-mission-hall-in-london-transformed-into-a-textile-designers-creative-headquarters","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/580223\/","title":{"rendered":"A former mission hall in London transformed into a textile designer’s creative headquarters"},"content":{"rendered":"

The building itself \u2013 one massive double-height space \u2013 was impressive but wore the scars of its various iterations, with a clunky first-floor office, a crude partition wall slicing a window in half, strange hospital-style doors punched into its fa\u00e7ade and blocked-up windows. Three dormer windows, as seen in a 1909 photograph, were gone, as were ornate finials along the roofline.<\/p>\n

\u2018It just needed a rethink,\u2019 says Lucy, who called on her friend, the architect James Stevens. They had met 18 years before when the pair had both worked for Retrouvius, the design studio known for its intelligent use of salvaged materials. James, who set up on his own in 2015 and now also runs Edinburgh craft gallery Bard, had helped Lucy with her Hackney terrace house in 2013 and the pair shared a similar philosophy. \u2018James is entirely practical and I knew this was the sort of building he\u2019d love,\u2019 she says. \u2018My first thought was that it had such exciting potential,\u2019 he observes.<\/p>\n

\"A<\/p>\n

Ben Anders<\/p>\n

Lucy\u2019s approach to her work is to \u2018find a beautiful textile and imagine what it might become\u2019. She took the same tack here, with James\u2019s guidance. \u2018I had a vague idea, but he blew it out of the water,\u2019 she says. His vision centred around the creation of a first floor, sitting just above the ground-floor window line, to provide an enchanting workroom for Lucy\u2019s team. \u2018Unlike many ecclesiastical buildings, this one split into floors comfortably,\u2019 Lucy explains.<\/p>\n

James also carved out space on the first floor for a small, self-contained live-work space, complete with a niftily hidden bath. This is now reached via the staircase, which hangs down \u2013 almost defying belief \u2013 in the only remaining double-height space. \u2018We nicknamed it Dumbledore\u2019s office,\u2019 says Lucy. The space downstairs was divided in two \u2013 one part of which is a double-height area that plays host to a studio kitchen, meeting table, staircase and mezzanine level. \u2018I felt it was crucial to keep some of the full, soaring height to honour the original meeting hall,\u2019 says James. This space leads through to the other half of downstairs: a series of rooms reached via an arched corridor \u2013 its shape inspired by the existing windows \u2013 which serve as showrooms for Lucy\u2019s latest creations, including a new full-tester bed set.<\/p>\n

\"In<\/p>\n

In the meeting hall, a double-height hall, kitchen and meeting area respects the soaring space of the original mission hall. Pigment-tinted raw plaster walls and a staircase and kitchen in Douglas fir \u2013 sourced from Whitney Sawmills in Herefordshire \u2013 are the backdrop for Lucy\u2019s vast medieval-tapestry-inspired panels. \u2018Influences for the woodwork ranged from the modernist timber organ casings at Coventry Cathedral to the staircases at Hogwarts,\u2019 says James.<\/p>\n

Ben Anders<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The building itself \u2013 one massive double-height space \u2013 was impressive but wore the scars of its various…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":580224,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3939],"tags":[4021,4020,2737,4022,77,87364,87366,183537,16,15],"class_list":{"0":"post-580223","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-arts-and-design","8":"tag-arts","9":"tag-arts-and-design","10":"tag-city","11":"tag-design","12":"tag-entertainment","13":"tag-london-houses","14":"tag-modern-houses","15":"tag-old-houses-with-contemporary-interiors","16":"tag-uk","17":"tag-united-kingdom"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@uk\/115575910962516405","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/580223","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=580223"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/580223\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/580224"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=580223"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=580223"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=580223"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}