Since it was constructed in 1725, this French-inspired classical building in London’s posh Mayfair neighborhood has been a private home, a clinic, and now an office. By 2020, when London- and San Francisco–based design firm Kallos Turin was tasked with reinventing it yet again as a modern finance workplace, the only remaining historic elements were the decorative pediment, pilasters, and 20th-century obelisks on its exterior. The interior was a true blank slate, so studio cofounders Stephania Kallos and Abigail Turin let the spirit of this facade guide their design.
“Conversation with history is one of the joys of the profession,” explained Turin. Here, it’s sparked in warm minimalist details made in materials that could have appropriately been original. A fluted travertine reception desk sits in front of a patinated copper accent wall on the ground floor, accessed through arched doorways with basket-weave walnut flooring underfoot.
Upstairs, burl walnut desks decorate open and private office spaces. The moody wood also panels the doors of a conference room. Just outside hangs a palette-matching painting by Martin Kippenberger (untitled, 1988), sourced from the client’s personal collection.
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