Cover The unique art and furniture on display at the salon of a Kensington, London home designed by Boundary Space
The unique art and furniture on display at the salon of a Kensington, London home designed by Boundary Space
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Explore how Boundary Space balances inspiration from Hong Kong with Italian design in this exquisite London home—which even features an eye-catching jade staircase
From the outside, this Kensington, London townhouse looks like any of its companions down the street. Yet even the merest glimpse of its interiors will have any passerby spellbound: spiralling through the home is a mesmerising jade staircase, complementing the organic shapes strewn all around the ground floor’s salon area.
Owned by clients that the Boundary Space team describes as “confident and bold,” they encouraged architects Thomas Furse-Roberts and Graeme Martinow to “think radically about the interior.”
The homeowners drew inspiration from their multicultural background: one homeowner is of Canadian-Ukrainian descent, while the other is British-educated with Hong Kong heritage. This unique blend of global influences has resulted in a London home that evokes images of early 20th-century Hong Kong life, reinterpreted through the lens of European modernism.
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Above The kitchen area with views of the terrazzo staircase on the basement level of a Kensington, London home designed by Boundary Space
Above The unique art and furniture on display at the salon of a Kensington, London home designed by Boundary Space
The kitchen area with views of the terrazzo staircase on the basement level of a Kensington, London home designed by Boundary Space
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From the beginning of the project, the Boundary Space team rose to the challenge. “Little character remained in the space,” they shared. “Over time, the house had been refitted and stripped of almost all original detail. Its exterior is well-mannered, but that sense of presence had not translated inside. The interiors had settled into a generic form of modern décor without identity.”
One of their first and most drastic actions was to excavate an entire level below ground, taking a novel approach by shifting the kitchen and dining areas downstairs. “The original spaces evoked more drudgery than delight,” say the architects. “The challenge was to transform this into a house for art and gathering.”
The dining room and kitchen area on the basement level of a Kensington, London home designed by Boundary Space
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This unconventional approach could easily have made the dining room feel subterranean; to avoid any feelings of claustrophobia, Boundary Space enhanced the space’s unique attributes. Wrapped in light wells that feature verdant greenery, the space never feels enclosed. Here, guests can explore the homeowners’ unique large-format artworks, which add further dynamism to the space.
Above the dining room table is a custom glass installation that makes the space feel all the more cavernous and playful all at once. “It really crowns the space,” muse the architects. “It’s such a celebration of craftsmanship; we’re so lucky that our clients were happy to patronise artisans who could create something like that.”
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Above An aerial view of the jade green staircase and commissioned artwork by Shazia Sikander in a Kensington, London home designed by Boundary Space
An aerial view of the jade green staircase and commissioned artwork by Shazia Sikander in a Kensington, London home designed by Boundary Space
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No exploration of the home would be complete without its most showstopping piece: a sculptural jade staircase clad in terrazzo, balancing memories of Hong Kong’s wet markets with modernist Italian form. The undulating, sloping forms add depth, preventing the lower floor from feeling isolated and disconnected from the rest of the home.
The staircase is complemented by a glazed atrium that floods the connected floors with light, ensuring that all elements of the home flow into each other. Leading up through the staircase is a custom-made glass installation by Shazia Sikander, a vibrant art piece that adds luminosity and narrative depth to an otherwise blank area. “Its palette, scale and materiality were carefully developed in dialogue with the space,” the team shares. “Because it is glass, the work shifts constantly, catching and refracting light from the atrium throughout the day.”
The unique art and furniture on display at the salon of a Kensington, London home designed by Boundary Space
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With the more utilitarian spaces nestled below, the ground floor became a blank canvas for a sprawling salon. “This vast, light-filled space is designed solely for entertaining and to house art,” the Boundary Space team proudly proclaims. “The clients’ extraordinary art collection guided the spatial choreography. We worked closely with them and with galleries [like Sean Kelly Gallery in New York] to animate the home and shape its atmosphere.”
Now, the salon is capable of hosting drinking parties for up to thirty people. “It has a remarkable volume, which posed a furnishing challenge,” the team admits. In response, they created ‘islands’ of furniture with bespoke curved sofas and a monumental marble table, encouraging conversation to ebb and flow throughout the room. There are no walls for rigid separation; instead, the islands are cushioned by soft rugs that fill the space with warmth. Whether the homeowners are hosting an intimate tête-à-tête or capping off a milestone, the space accommodates all gatherings with ease.
Above The bedroom of a Kensington, London home designed by Boundary Space
The bedroom of a Kensington, London home designed by Boundary Space
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Above Green tiles in the bathroom of a Kensington, London home designed by Boundary Space
Green tiles in the bathroom of a Kensington, London home designed by Boundary Space
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Altogether, the home is a reflection of the clients’ unique, shared identity and a companion for their life together. For the team at Boundary Space, finding cultural touchstones and incorporating them into the space is paramount to a project’s success; here, they implemented jade and green tones in whimsical mosaic flooring and tiles, a green marble coffee table, and the unforgettable terrazzo staircase. “The architecture and interiors are enriched by these references, but always distilled into something precise and contemporary,” the team says. “Every detail was conceived with craft and longevity in mind. The home is not just a backdrop for the clients’ lives, but also a statement of cultural connection.”
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About
Celine first read Charlotte’s Web at the age of five–and she hasn’t stopped turning pages since. Her favourite authors are Mona Awad and Nat Cassidy. Besides writing for Tatler, she listens to BTS and spends time with her family.
Work
Celine took up secondary education with a major in English, graduating from De La Salle University in 2023. She advocates for female empowerment through creative expression by writing for Tatler Homes.
For story leads or inquiries, you may reach out to her via celine.dabao@tatlerasia.com.
