Houzz Tours
London Houzz Tour: Vintage Pieces Renew a Former Courthouse
An outstanding collection of furniture, sculpture and paintings brings warmth to vast and dramatic architecture
“You don’t always have to rip a place apart to transform it,” explains designer and serial miracle worker Ebba Thott. The co-owner of 20th-century design specialists, Sigmar, was asked by the owners of this converted courthouse to help turn their cavernous apartment into a characterful home for them and their substantial collection of art and furniture. “They came in to the shop and said: ‘We love this place. If you can make our strange, vast space feel like this, that’s what we want,’” Thott says.
The huge, open-plan living and kitchen area demonstrates Thott’s skill in grouping furniture and objects together. “Pieces get different identities in different frameworks. A chair could look really boring, but put it next to a certain table or with a certain desk and suddenly it stands out,” she says.
What appears to be a large wooden cabinet at the back of the kitchen is, in fact, a witness box dating back to when the apartment was part of a courthouse. “We weren’t allowed to touch that!” says Thott.
The walls are painted in a warm grey. “It translates well between the traditional and contemporary atmospheres,” explains Thott. The soft shade also provides the ideal backdrop for a beautiful group of statement-making chairs.
An elegant pair of antique green Kaare Klint sofas supplied by Sigmar sit either side of a table by Carl Auböck. “The colour is strong but very soft and perfectly offsets the coffee table, carved from a single piece of wood – my clients love that piece,” says Thott.
Walls painted in Damo London Cloud: Sigmar
What appears to be a large wooden cabinet at the back of the kitchen is, in fact, a witness box dating back to when the apartment was part of a courthouse. “We weren’t allowed to touch that!” says Thott.
The walls are painted in a warm grey. “It translates well between the traditional and contemporary atmospheres,” explains Thott. The soft shade also provides the ideal backdrop for a beautiful group of statement-making chairs.
An elegant pair of antique green Kaare Klint sofas supplied by Sigmar sit either side of a table by Carl Auböck. “The colour is strong but very soft and perfectly offsets the coffee table, carved from a single piece of wood – my clients love that piece,” says Thott.
Walls painted in Damo London Cloud: Sigmar
Thott sourced a vintage display unit for her clients’ smaller decorative pieces. “It dates back to a time when travelling was an elite pastime and people would use cabinets to display where they had been and what they had done with their life,” she explains.
A careful visual balance allows an appreciation of both the building and its exceptional contents. “We respected the architectural space by playing with light, with the colours, and by putting in things like the bespoke chandelier, which would only work in a space like this,” says Thott. “When you have dramatic ceiling heights and big spans of wall, you can be hugely creative with your choices.”
As a former courthouse, the building is in a busy central location, but there’s little sense of that when you’re inside. “The vast scale of the space and the high-level industrial windows mean you don’t get distracted by what’s outside,” says Thott.
Bespoke chandelier: Workstead
As a former courthouse, the building is in a busy central location, but there’s little sense of that when you’re inside. “The vast scale of the space and the high-level industrial windows mean you don’t get distracted by what’s outside,” says Thott.
Bespoke chandelier: Workstead
This home has been designed to be a sociable place, but there are intimate spaces too. The mezzanine nestled at the top of the building overlooks the living room. Thott chose a rug and chairs in the same rich blue colour for a unified feel.
“Rugs are hugely important as anchor points around this apartment,” explains Thott. “You can control the flow of space in a room if you use them properly, so I always advise people to create bespoke rugs if they can’t find the right size.”
“Rugs are hugely important as anchor points around this apartment,” explains Thott. “You can control the flow of space in a room if you use them properly, so I always advise people to create bespoke rugs if they can’t find the right size.”
The dining room, illuminated by a roof light, is a good example of how Thott has displayed a large number of items but given them all enough space. “It’s all about finding harmony. As long as you respect the energy and identity of each item you won’t cramp anything,” she explains. “That’s essentially what a designer should offer – the experience to find harmony and balance within a space.”
Black leather armchairs flank favourite stools by the French designer Charlotte Perriand in a specially designated reading area. “These objects represent my clients’ memories and personalities. They wanted to make them a point of conversation,” says Thott.
The study area has storage and display side by side. The furniture, including a classic chair by Pierre Jeanneret, is both functional and stunning. “My clients have beautiful things that they wanted to see every day. They’re all from different places, but we’ve tied them together so it doesn’t look too knick-knacky,” explains Thott.
The downstairs movie room is a cosy contrast to the cathedral-like proportions of the living room. “We decorated downstairs with kilim rugs and put in picture shelving,” says Thott. The corridor leads to the bedrooms and a patio.
In the main bedroom a chest of drawers provides an informal place for displaying more artworks. A lamp dating back to the 1930s, sourced through Sigmar, stands next to the bed. “Lighting is always a big consideration. It can make or break a scheme,” says Thott.
A rich palette of greys creates a calming mood in the main bedroom. The walls are covered in wallpaper with a fabric texture for subtle interest.
Sateen Club wallcovering in French Grey: Phillip Jefferies
Sateen Club wallcovering in French Grey: Phillip Jefferies
Warm leather and emerald green provide flashes of colour against the grey walls and bed linen. “There’s tactility, texture and vibrant colour in this home as well the special pieces,” says Thott.
In the second bedroom, doors next to the Eames rocking chair lead out to a patio.
Thott’s recently launched Damo collection of low-VOC matt, satin, eggshell and floor paints, used throughout the apartment, are available through Sigmar. The wall colour, says Thott, “has a mild lavender undertone and it changes with the sunlight between cool and warm.”
Walls painted in Damo Atlantic Salt: Sigmar
Thott’s recently launched Damo collection of low-VOC matt, satin, eggshell and floor paints, used throughout the apartment, are available through Sigmar. The wall colour, says Thott, “has a mild lavender undertone and it changes with the sunlight between cool and warm.”
Walls painted in Damo Atlantic Salt: Sigmar
Carl Auböck’s Safari chair, on the left, is just one of many sought-after vintage pieces found throughout the flat.
Sisal carpet: Tim Page Carpets
Sisal carpet: Tim Page Carpets
Houzz at a Glance
Who lives here? A professional couple
Location: London
Property: A split-level apartment in a former courthouse built in 1908
Size: 2 bedrooms, 2 bathrooms
Designer: Ebba Thott of Sigmar
The vast historical building had been gutted by a developer and transformed into four large flats when Thott was called in to help. Fully functional, with oak flooring and a discreet kitchen, this apartment had extraordinary architectural features but lacked a certain soul. Thott’s mission was to fix that. “It was a great brief – making this very large space cosy and sociable,” she says.
As well as being huge fans of the Sigmar aesthetic, Thott’s globe-trotting clients are art collectors who bring back all sorts of pieces from their travels. “It was important to create space for display, but they didn’t want massive podiums of things you can’t touch,” explains Thott. “It’s not a gallery, but it’s not designed to feel like a family home either.”
Thott got to know the space and the owners’ collection well before selecting the perfect paint shades, then sourcing furniture to complement her clients’ pieces by the likes of 20th-century designers such as Charlotte Perriand, Finn Juhl and Jacques Adnet. “We always start by creating the atmosphere, and then we find the pieces – that takes time,” she says.
Sliced Rug by Jan Kath in emerald: Front