It doesn't take more than a weekend out with friends to feel as though there is nothing that doesn't cost you money when you live in London. But while hyper-touristy locations in the city are designed to make you feel that way — think, for example, about the never-ending succession of brutally lit shops crowding the entire length of Oxford Street, and the even more extortionary food traps that, profiting off travelers' exhaustion, charge you £20 for a plate of overcooked pasta anywhere near there — others, including many concept stores, restaurants, and cafés, are replacing a strictly commercial aesthetic with a much warmer and distinctive look.
The goal? Convincing you, even if just for a moment, that you're not simply there to purchase something or indulge in your favorite selection of small plates, but to feel at home — spending quality time more than merely tapping your card.
That more and more concept stores and foodie hotspots in London are going residential in their interior choices isn't anything necessarily new. When I first discovered fashion insider-turned-homeware dealer Dani Hides' vintage hub Passé The Store on one of the platform's Brockley Cross pop-ups a couple of years back, my desire to make its layered setup — stunningly preserved antique artwork, softly glowing handmade sconces and table lamps, and statement soft seating in the quirkiest silhouettes — my own was pretty much immediate.
In a world where anything from our fashion buys to rentals and, now, with heat-induced work-from-home routines, even offices, feel more volatile than ever before, could the places we choose to visit to switch off — eateries, coffee shops, hotels — or reward ourselves with something new — clothing and furniture stores — become the ones where we feel most welcome? The design of these three new London destinations speaks for itself, and reveals what style tricks, collectibles, and materials make spaces feel more personal.
1. Cubitts The Yard
Unit 14, Bagley Walk Arches, Coal Drops Yard, London N1C 4DH
Inaugurated on June 25, Cubitts The Yard, a new 3,000-square-foot global HQ and optical manufactory in London's King's Cross, is the first permanent location of Tom Broughton's British spectacles brand Cubitts, which he founded in October 2013. But it is also one of the most fitting manifestations of what seems to be a growing residential-retail design trend.
A multifunctional destination reuniting manufacturing, training, and cultural programming in one place, the flagship revives the former Victorian stables of the nearby Crosse & Blackwell vinegar brewery into a post-industrial maze that makes the district's zealous working past and Cubitts' own contribution to that legacy instantly tangible in a refurbishment led by London studio 51 architecture.
A conversation between old and new, raw and polished, sets the scene for an immersive experience: visitors can discuss the specifics of their next pair of specs and get their old ones repaired, dive into the Cubitts archive, or attend live events, all while being surrounded by mid-century modern furniture, vibrant textiles, and thriving plants — not your usual optician setup.
The building itself and the use made of its many rooms dictated the look of each environment, 51 architecture's Catherine du Toit and Peter Thomas tell me. To balance its pared-back shell, "gentler materials, textures, and colors were introduced to create warmth and comfort, with beautiful new and vintage pieces inspiring the creative process," they explain.
"A space for slower conversations, the consultation room is more formal and intimate. Toilets were completed with new tiled finishes to accentuate their utilitarian essence, while the monolithic staircase is stripped back to its original raw concrete finish with bespoke new handrails for a pleasing tactility."
An atmosphere of relaxed attentiveness and playful material precision across both contemporary and heritage details beautifully marries the ethos of Cubitts. The brand seeks to fight fast-fashion's disposable mindset through made-to-order, enduring, and intentional eyewear that turns traditional craftsmanship into a style statement. The same is true of its time-traveling headquarters.
Cubitts' waste-conscious, essentially smart essence also informed what to keep from the warehouse's original architecture. More specifically, 51 architecture saved anything "that was useful and stood as a homage to the area's tough working past and continuing utilitarian present", heralding a new era for the brand "that's fresh, current, and members of the public are welcome into".
The patina of the existing finishes is retained to offset new materials and furniture, including the timber workbenches made by Lozi Designs. From the entrance to the communal dining area of The Yard, occasional pops of lime-based colors by Simon Marsh "bring fresh energy to tired parts of the building that still work but needed love, like the ducting".
Hard-wearing, industrial, and easy to look after, the communal kitchen and dining area — dotted with spirited warm wood furnishings — allows each Cubitts employee "to meet, socialize, and be recognized as part of a common enterprise". With the smell of freshly ground and brewed coffee spreading from newly installed La Marzocco machines, feeling at home has never been easier.
2. Réalisation Par
Part of the appeal of these new design destinations in London stems from their ability to simultaneously feel home-like and relatable and aspirational — a fantasy world we can, for now, only strive toward. Such is the charm of Melbourne fashion brand Réalisation Par's new Mount Street flagship, completed earlier this spring by interior designer Sophie Baker for co-founders Alexandra Spencer and Teale Talbot.
"Réalisation Par has built the 'dream girl' world that women connect with emotionally, and from the beginning our ambition was to bring that feeling into a physical space for the first time," she tells me. "Rather than designing a conventional store, we wanted to create somewhere intimate, glamorous, and immersive — a place people would genuinely want to spend time in." They succeeded.
The inspiration came from 20th-century Milanese, London, and Paris apartments that embodied "an effortless, understated glamour", including the Milan home of late Italian fashion designer Giorgio Armani, filled with "quiet confidence, timeless materials, and carefully collected pieces".
To ensure the store felt more like a beautifully curated home than a boutique, Baker layered custom furniture and lighting, contrasting materials such as wood, stone, plaster, and terracotta, soft textures, and carefully chosen vintage pieces into a scheme that, she explains, "carries a sense of character and permanence rather than feeling overly styled or temporary."
Softness was key, too. "I want the spaces I design to make people feel good, so lighting is intentionally low-level and decorative rather than bright and harsh," Baker adds. Parchment walls and rich timber details, silk, antique brass, and luxurious fabrics were all picked for their warmth and tactility — "so the space feels inviting and beautifully lived-in".
Having previously imagined several addresses for pioneering private members' club group Soho House, Baker knows how to infuse presence and familiarity in rooms devised to be inhabited for a short period of time. In this case, though, the 95 Mount Street building also played its part in shaping the result.
"The scale, high ceilings, and beautiful rear windows overlooking the gardens bring an incredible quality of natural light that makes the whole space feel elegant and effortless," she explains. Here, every element — the architecture, furnishings, and collections — has been styled to sit together naturally and celebrate the address's history without competing with it.
Emotion sits at the heart of the Réalisation Par brand. "The dresses have an effortless confidence that makes you feel good, and we wanted the interiors to evoke that same feeling: the space is designed to capture that dream-like energy, allowing visitors to slow down, immerse themselves in the environment, and leave feeling uplifted and inspired," Baker concludes.
3. Cremer
1 Geffrye Street, Hoxton, E2 8JH
Asked about the rationale behind the Réalisation Par flagship's mansion-like ambience, Baker argues it taps into reigniting a deeper interaction between people and their surroundings: "we wanted to create a destination where visitors could spend time, connect with the brand, and experience its world beyond the collection itself, while celebrating thoughtful craftsmanship and design." The latest venture of Ramzi Abouchalache, founder of hip Farringdon listening bar and record label Space Talk, all-day café, bakery, and canteen Cremer serves that same vision on a plate.
Launched earlier this month, Cremer was crafted with care by Spazio Leone's founder, Gennaro Leone, and long-term collaborator Oscar Piccolo. Similarly to Dalla, the Italian neighborhood restaurant they dreamed up together to transport the warmth, emotiveness, and storied design legacy of their motherland to Hackney in 2023, and one of our favorite restaurants in the capital, the address stands out for its unpretentious yet highly researched and slightly sentimental atmosphere.
An unruly selection of books, juxtaposed with one-off illustrations, sculptures, framed artworks, and organically shaped vases, appears in colorful blocks atop wall-wide shelving. Hand-painted countryside scenes interrupt the warm wooden paneling of the bar scheme. And woven rattan baskets, constellating the space together with embroidered fabrics and mismatched cushions and seating, give the space the tactile essence of places you've learned to recognize on repeated visits throughout your life — your parents' own living room, a relative's crafty office and workshop, a holiday home that belongs in the family.
At heart, Cremer is a coffee shop and day-only restaurant. But its ability to foster a sense of familiarity, disrupting the non-stop rhythm of London life and convincing people to linger just a little longer, is one the Hoxton establishment shares with the places closest to us.
From the moment Ramzi Abouchalache reached out to him in September, Leone knew the goal for Cremer was one: "to create a place where you could spend the whole day without feeling rushed — somewhere you could work, read, and have a bite to eat, where everything is made in-house, with that feel of intimacy and comfort," he tells me.
The familiarity one can breathe at Cremer also comes from the real-life connections that made the address, literally. Leone and Abouchalache have been supporting each other's projects for a while and, joined by Piccolo, they found a way to conceive the space that "felt very organic" — emblematic of their shared vision of hospitality and craftsmanship.
An airy, light-filled, open-plan scheme where natural woods and white-washed walls are brought to life by intricate tapestries, unique objects, and immersive abstract canvases; Cremer doesn't seek spectacle, but holds a reassuring presence and stillness at a time when everything else moves faster than we can often afford to chase.
Somewhere midway between a library, an artist studio, and a lively canteen, the result "represents where Spazio Leone is heading: a space built around collaboration, storytelling, and creating experiences that go beyond traditional interior design," Leone explains. You know where people will be finding shelter from the heat this summer.
Keen to know what else is hot in the world of interiors this month?
Dive into design writer Olivia Wolfe's anticipated ICYMI for the only furniture releases to have on your radar this summer, or look out for editor Hugh Metcalf's July cultural mashup, The Zeigeist Edit, which is coming up soon.
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