Anatomy of a Room: an open-plan factory conversion in East London given form and function by Studio Tashima

A family of five had owned the top floor and terrace of a two-floor converted factory space in Shoreditch for some time before coming into possession of the floor below; when they did, they turned to Charles Tashima and his team at Studio Tashima to adapt the large, deep space while retaining the period elements that made it so special in the first place. What followed was a project of modernisation and subdivision, respecting the history of the building and its materials in line with the studio’s ethos of reuse and reinvention.

The first question was how to structure the large main space, which now incorporates several discrete areas including a reading snug, an TV corner, a freestanding grand piano and a kitchen and dining area. Studio Tashima’s aim was to create a feeling similar to that of a mixed-use hotel lobby – albeit more homely and characterful – where one might sit in a specific area (in a bar, say, a bay window or by a fireplace) and experience a diversity of use despite the open-plan format.

The kitchen and dining area, with a bespoke staircase and wood screen, plus the light well, to the left

Anna Batchelor

The building was once a furniture factory, and Studio Tashima sub-divided it cleverly; aptly, lots of the family’s own furniture was used as the starting point. Many of the pieces in the flat were inherited from one of the clients’ mothers, and Studio Tashima began with an inventory of it all, before finding places for it in the main living room and the rest of the flat. The colour of a sofa was used to inform the joinery which held the television, for example, somewhere between a dark aquamarine and teal. Rugs on the floor, in particular, further helped to define each loose “zone” of the large room.

In the TV area, the colour of the sofa tied into the paint on the new joinery

Anna Batchelor