The Warehouse: A 19th-Century Converted Edwardian Warehouse in the Heart of Central London.
Produced & Written by Dan Burge | 2 February 2025
We filmed this project with Marta back in February 2025, in collaboration with DOMstay. With a passion for converting abandoned architectural gems, Polish-British interior architect Marta Nowicka created DOMstay to house her ever-growing collection of projects. Now featuring more than 30 award-winning properties designed by Marta or friends, they’re on a mission to create great architecture and make the experience of good design accessible to everyone.
This stunning 250 sqm converted warehouse is an architectural gem in London’s art and design district. Mixing metal and glass with exposed brick from the original Victorian building, this holiday home is the perfect place for travelers seeking an authentic experience with a local feel. With three spacious bedrooms, a fully equipped kitchen, and a fantastic living area that opens up into the roof terrace, everything you need for your perfect stay will be right within your reach.
Material Contrast: Brick, Steel & Concrete
A Dialogue Between Old and New
The interior balances raw industrial elements with refined detailing. A cantilevered staircase — originally designed by Marta during her second year at Kingston University — becomes a sculptural centrepiece, visually light yet structurally bold.
Concrete floors with underfloor heating provide thermal mass and durability, while sections of structural glass flooring allow natural light to filter into the newly excavated basement below.
A Brutalist-Inspired Basement
To maximise space, the team dug down to create a basement level used for storage, utilities and workspace. Inspired by the nearby Barbican Centre, the basement embraces a Brutalist aesthetic: shuttered concrete walls retain the imprint of timber formwork, exposed beams remain visible, and materials are left deliberately honest.
The result is a tactile, textural counterpoint to the brick-lined warehouse above.
Revealing the Building’s Past
Historical traces are woven into the design. A ground-floor bedroom — once the stable of the wine warehouse — revealed an original soakaway drain beneath its suspended floor. Stable doors were reinterpreted to satisfy modern planning requirements for accessibility, while a fragment of fallen exterior render, bearing the imprint of historic brickwork, has been preserved as artwork.
Throughout, smoked oak flooring runs across the upper levels, its dark grain beautifully offsetting the warm brick envelope.
Reworking the Internal Layout
An Accessible Ground Floor
In line with planning requirements, the ground floor includes an accessible bedroom with an en-suite shower and WC. The space demonstrates how thoughtful design can satisfy regulation without compromising architectural intent.
Mirrored Drama in the Main Bathroom
On the first floor, the main bathroom offers theatrical contrast. Mirrored walls and ceilings create infinite reflections, amplifying light from above. A Jacuzzi bath sits beneath a skylight, allowing bathers to look up at passing clouds and treetops — a moment of unexpected serenity in central London.
Character in the Bedrooms
The master bedroom retains its original loading bay door, once used to hoist goods into the warehouse. A fireplace adds warmth and atmosphere, while double-glazed timber sash windows replicate the originals, preserving the building’s historic rhythm.
Elsewhere, clever storage solutions — including a raised platform bed with integrated drawers — demonstrate the practical thinking behind the design.
Related Articles
Tonwell Tower: A Conversion of a 1960s Brutalist Water Tower into a Family Home in Hertfordshire.
Rose Hip Yard: A Contemporary Development of Three Diamond-Shaped Homes on a Former Storage Yard.
Copeland Road: A Reimagined Victorian Terrace Featuring an Innovative Three-Storey Timber Extension.
The Penthouse: Living Above the City
Inverting the Traditional Layout
The discovery of the rooftop view inspired a complete inversion of the conventional plan. Rather than placing bedrooms above, the main living space now occupies the top floor, ensuring uninterrupted views toward St Luke's Church.
This level is intentionally free from blinds and curtains. Surrounded by mature trees, privacy is achieved naturally, maintaining constant visual connection with the skyline.
A Nine-Metre Kitchen with Engineered Precision
The kitchen spans an impressive nine metres and is fitted with cabinetry from German manufacturer Rational Küchen. Known for precision engineering, the units are seamlessly integrated, including concealed drawer fridges within the counters.
The kitchen occupies a more private working zone of the open-plan space, while the adjacent seating area maintains visual connection to the landscape beyond.
Seamless Indoor-Outdoor Living
Expansive glazing slides fully open, creating cross-ventilation and blurring the boundary between interior and exterior. A 300mm-deep green roof — naturally seeded by birds — provides insulation and seasonal wildflowers, mitigating heat gain in summer.
Two terraces extend the living space outdoors. The larger, south-west facing terrace captures afternoon and evening sun, framed by bamboo planting for privacy. From here, the architectural dialogue between old and new London unfolds across the skyline.
HomeInspire Downloads
Download Our Complete Renovation Handbook
A step-by-step guide to planning, designing, and delivering your dream home.
Planning your first renovation doesn’t have to be overwhelming. This 62-page step-by-step eBook guides you through every stage - from budgeting and planning to design, permissions, and finishing touches. Packed with expert advice, checklists, and cost guides, it helps you avoid mistakes, stay on track, and bring your dream home to life.
The Penthouse: Living Above the City
Engineering Challenges in Clerkenwell
Constructing the additional storey was no small feat. Surrounded by neighbouring buildings, the project required nine party wall agreements and complex scaffolding arrangements. The build took two years, with constant negotiation and coordination to navigate the tight urban site.
A Home for Life
Despite the challenges, the result is what Marta describes as “a home for life.” It reflects decades of architectural thinking — layered, intentional, and deeply personal.
Sharing Architecture Through Dom Stay
Unusually, Marta retains her development projects, renting them as long-term homes or holiday lets through her platform, DOMstay. It’s a way of sharing considered architecture with those who appreciate thoughtful design — extending the life of each project beyond private ownership.
Project Info
Location: Clerkenwell, London
Architect: Marta Nowicka
Find out more at DOMstay
Photography by DOMstay
Filmed & Produced by HomeInspire
Written by Dan Burge | Founder of HomeInspire
Video Statistics
YouTube Views: 350,000+
YouTube Impressions: 4,500,000+
Instagram & TikTok Views: 125,000+
To see more, watch our full project tour on our YouTube channel!
Share This Story
Get in touch if you’d like to be featured on HomeInspire.
You May Also Be Interested In:
