“A brooding palette of industrial steel, black cement floors, granite and glass are employed to an arresting effect”

A rare work of the late great designer François Catroux, this home is a dramatic evocation of the visceral. It occupies the lateral expanse of two former apartments within a beautifully maintained and gated Victorian school conversion in Battersea, south London. It exceeds 5,700 sq ft and is arranged around a spectacular living space, with three bedrooms set around its perimeter in addition to a large study, mezzanine gallery and gym.

The Tour

The apartment is situated on the first floor and accessed by lift or by wide stairwell. A blackened steel front door opens to a comparatively intimate entrance hall with a discreet guest WC and utility room concealed around a corner.

Beyond the hall lies a breathtaking chamber, where ceilings tower five metres above and soaring sash windows line the south-facing façade. A brooding palette of industrial steel, black cement floors, granite and glass are employed to an arresting effect. This open-plan swathe is arranged as kitchen, dining, snug and living space, where in the latter, a fireplace is set at the foot of a steel feature wall.

Folded steel steps rise to the mezzanine landing and gallery space, which overlooks the length of the living space, and to a gym which links to the main bathroom suite. This principal suite occupies the south-western corner and contains a walk-in wardrobe and steps up to a gallery bathroom clad in lava stone. Two further bedrooms along the northern aspect contain en suite showers. A fourth room has been designed as a library/workspace, with bespoke dark-stained joinery and its own sitting room arranged around an open fireplace.