How do you take the concept of the office privacy-pod and make it work in the domestic sphere? A pair of London architects have cracked it, making a bespoke timber pod the unlikely centrepiece of a Grade II-listed apartment in South Kensington. An innovative, self-supporting structure containing a second bedroom and bathroom, it adds an air of storybook charm and intrigue to a mid 19th-century Italianate townhouse in London’s royal borough.
Stopping short of the property’s original plaster ceiling, leaving the ornate decoration and cornicing preserved and in clear view, the room-within-a-room redefines the boundaries of the space and gives the capsule concept a warm, homely precedent.
‘The pod was conceived as a sculptural form within the historic shell,’ says Adam Arya, co-founder of Arya Douge, the architectural studio behind the project. ‘It brings order to the space, carving out a private zone without interfering with the listed walls or ceilings. The contrast between the contemporary form and the historic fabric gives the apartment its quiet drama.’
The timber cladding, with alternating smooth and scalloped surfaces, creates the illusion of a structure that has been carved from a monolithic block of wood. It is, says Arya, ‘a tactile counterpoint to the restored decorative plasterwork, sensitively reinterpreting the apartment’s Victorian heritage for contemporary living.’
Photography: courtesy of Arya Douge
Photography: courtesy of Arya Douge
Photography: courtesy of Arya Douge
Photography: courtesy of Arya Douge
Photography: courtesy of Arya Douge
By securing listed-building consent for the reconfiguration, the design studio was able to balance the space’s historic fabric with a commitment to modern, unexpected, architectural expression. A muted colour palette throughout — natural stone and micro cement in the bathrooms, veneered joinery, bronze fittings, reeded glass and honed limestone — artfully offsets the deep hue of the timber pod.
The project also saw a galley kitchen relocated into the main room at the front of the building. The former powder room was reconfigured into an en suite for the principal bedroom and the mezzanine – originally a small bathroom above the master bedroom – was transformed into a study and dressing room.
‘Working within a listed building isn’t about resistance, it’s about dialogue,’ says Arya. ‘Our role is to let these buildings evolve with integrity — to preserve their stories while making them relevant for how people live today.’
