A beautiful oasis of calm with a subtle palette of timber, stone and polished plaster. The gradient effect in the timber leads the eye towards the different spaces and creates subtle changes in the atmosphere. The screen filters the view into the room as you enter creating a sense of privacy where required and vice versa.

The project involves complete refurbishment, full width ground floor extension and half width first floor rear extension with a cat slide roof, loft conversion and garage conversion. Two stunning zinc clad dormers add very required floor space on the first floor and loft levels. A flexible garden office/gym further completes the space requirements.

Throughout a warm consistent palette of materials and finishes including designed bespoke storage gives a beautiful canvas which the family can grow into and personalise, making it a home rather than a show-home.

Taking cues from the neighbouring properties and working with the significant restriction in this area the design has been successful in completely restructuring the spaces creating a beautiful light filled family home.

A crisp contemporary aesthetic transforms this Victorian penthouse into a luxurious, open and light 5 bedroom apartment in the heart of Chelsea. The project was a complete rebuild of a topfloor apartment that lost its grand roof during the bombings of world war II. Lengthy discussions with planners lead to a successful planning application for rebuilding the original roof in all its glory a creating a beautiful terrace that helps flood light into the main living space.

The living space located on both levels and incorporating a terrace is interwoven and connected both physically and visually.  A subtle and sophisticated palette of materials has completely transformed this once dark and deep apartment.

A 3D solid timber wall surface, weathered steel, cold rolled black steel, solid stone in the living, dining and kitchen sets the tone for the remainder of the apartment where each of the private rooms and bathrooms gets a strand of this material palette.

A beautiful and sensitive loft conversion and complete refurbishment of a top floor apartment in a Victorian mansion block in Chelsea, London. The brief was to convert the roof space to create a open plan living with small outdoor space on the upper level and also a full refurbishment of the lower level rooms including essential storage and new kitchen.

The brief was to transform a  typical 1930’s  house, sited on a steep slope (6m from street to garden) and an awkwardly narrowing and turning plot (as it follows a public path) to accommodate a growing family with evolving needs - parents (one working from home now), 2 kids and grandparents for 6-8 months a year.

The design embraces the slope, adding new living space half a floor down, a mid-level deck and a garden office with a climbing-wall.  Utility space was added by infilling the space to the side of the house.

Internally the journey steps through three framed, interconnected spaces.  The black glazed frame with a hand-woven woollen screen ensures privacy, drawing you through to a burnt-orange frame into the lower level living space.  A creasing-tile frame leads you onto the deck and into the garden where the garden office and climbing-wall are now connected to the house – both visually and through easy access.

The result was an inviting and open feel to a previously cramped ground floor, with an extension that feels natural. 

A space that easily transforms from a daytime indoor-outdoor circus playground for kids, to an evening of tranquil entertainment.  The climbing-wall brings an alternate, colourful, playful and welcoming end to the garden while the intervening deck provides connected, accessible external space.  A home that rather than fighting the site, uses it.

Photo Credit : Anthony Coleman and Supriya Mankad

Beautiful contemporary refurbishment of a terrace home in Chelsea. Smoked oak timber floors, polished plaster, leather and glass balustrade unify all the floors. Beautifully finished bespoke joinery on all levels.

Basement reconfiguration to create flexible living/guest bedroom area with a sliding screen.

Es Em were commissioned to redesign the front of office and the formal and informal meeting spaces within an open plan office. there was also a requirement to maintain or increase desk spaces at the same time. The reception was livened up using a live moss wall in an otherwise dark space with a feature desk and timber ceiling treatment which was designed to disguise both the lighting and provide better acoustics.

A series of outdoor seating sofas. A folded sandwich structure gives rigidity to an easily available raw plate metal sheet with the possiblility of integrating solar lamps and planters ideal for pool side or decked situations.

A warm and cosy refurbishment, loft conversion and garage conversion of a family home in Kingston. The projects uses a pallet of warm greys, timber and natural stones to create a colhesive and harmonious home.

A subtle yet luxurious space with a rich material palette accentuated by key bespoke feature elements. Black polished plaster, full height mirror panels, teak and glass tiles help define a compact space into distinct areas.

A unique black-gold-grey bamboo pattern was developed in collaboration with Bisazza as the central feature piece of the bespoke spa. Double and single glazed glass screens separate the different environments of the spa and gym to create an airy feel. 

A perforated metal screen shields the gym area from the main house providing privacy to its users and doubles up as a physical barrier. The pattern continues a ply on a bamboo leaf form. The design language is further developed in a light feature above the spa.

Photos: Supriya Mankad 

@ I M lab ltd

Brief was to create some clever storage solutions in a new build house...

Located in the midst of expansive English gardens the design for the fit out and refurbishment of this contemporary British country house has been strongly influenced by its natural surroundings.

Feature elements from the handcrafted balustrade in the entrance hallway to the laser cut metal and glass panels for the kitchen doors and the  feature fireplaces have all been inspired by natural elements like timber grain patterns and the leaves from the garden. The idea was to architecturally enhance each room to give distinct character and yet have a sense of continuity through the whole house.

Photos: Supriya Mankad and See4real

@ I M lab ltd

Located in a private bay down the coast from Izmir, Turkey, the villa is part of a larger complex. Built on a slope facing the sea, the villa is approached from the second floor with a grand staircase leading down to the open-plan living and leisure spaces on the first floor and ground floor respectively. The design intent was to develop a strong internal identity given the anonymous quality of the outer shell. Proximity to the sea and the rich Turkish context lent themselves as natural inspirations for the interiors marked by the use of rich elemental materials and objects like the teak roots, thick solid tables made of suar and tamarind, metals such as copper and bronze and a vibrant mix of colours, fabrics and geometric patterns.

There is a theatrical quality to every small space. Boundaries are not defined by physical walls but by the positioning of furniture, architectural objects, curtains and the quality of light. Overscale teak roots, soft draped walls and perforated metal screens create private spaces and yet maintain visual permeability throughout.

Photos: Supriya Mankad and See4real

@I M Lab

Located within the historical and fascinating surroundings of a roman ruin the restaurant shares the building with a Michelin starred restaurant Gellius under the same chef (Alessandro Breda).

Italian food cooked on a Tepenyaki.  This dining concept stark contrast to the sister restaurant and the interior needed to reflect this alternative cooking and eating experience.

The eroded series is a range of objects that have been inspired by the natural process of Erosion – where a solid material like stone gets eaten away by an exogenic process like wind flow or water flow. This eating away not only results in changing the quality of the solid object (like smoothness or exposing the internal quality of the element) but also leads to the formation of surfaces and pockets that then become suitable for a different kind of inhabitation.

The eroded series is a range of objects that have been inspired by the natural process of Erosion – where a solid material like stone gets eaten away by an exogenic process like wind flow or water flow. This eating away not only results in changing the quality of the solid object (like smoothness or exposing the internal quality of the element) but also leads to the formation of surfaces and pockets that then become suitable for a different kind of inhabitation.

The eroded series is a range of objects that have been inspired by the natural process of Erosion – where a solid material like stone gets eaten away by an exogenic process like wind flow or water flow. This eating away not only results in changing the quality of the solid object (like smoothness or exposing the internal quality of the element) but also leads to the formation of surfaces and pockets that then become suitable for a different kind of inhabitation.