Thames Quay, a portrait of the river
This project is the joining of two apartments overlooking Chelsea Harbour and the Thames. The existing building had been poorly designed and quickly constructed during the 1980s by P&O Ferries. Despite being high value real estate, it suffered from a deep floor plan, poor constructional detailing and a misaligned structural grid.
Roni Horn’s ‘Still Water’ series formed the basis of an exhaustive study into how a material can form an intimate and mythical portrait of a place. We worked closely with different suppliers, veneerers and lacquerers to create a unique material that exhibits the same qualities as the surrounding bodies of water. When viewed directly, it reveals a depth, colour and figuring that subtly shifts in the light, whilst at oblique angles it reflects with faint distortions.
Inspired by 19th C bidets, the plan is choreographed by the insertion of several finessed pieces of cabinetry, which conceal wet rooms, wardrobes, and moveable walls. The new arrangement creates a series of broad spaces and tighter thresholds to host everyday life. Fragmented reflections orientate each room back towards the river.
