Blog

November 2019

A Love of Nature - Biophilic Design

A love of nature is ingrained in us, refined through experience, culture, and the product of human evolution. But how often do we find ourselves in a truly natural environment?

There is an undeniable desire to immerse ourselves in natural landscapes. Though often only in our subconscious it leads many on long walks and escapes to the countryside retreats. The biophilia hypothesis  suggests that humans possess an innate tendency to seek connections with with nature and other forms of life.

But what if you could recapture that connection in your own home using raw and organic materials. Our materials palette with barn wood at its core creates cabinetry and furniture that offer a connection to nature, and quality of material that cannot be found elsewhere. The texture and grain of weathered barn wood mimics the wild unlike any other type of wood. Moss, bark and other organic surfaces such as Organoids stunning scented sheet material pressed with lavender, meadow flower and coffee (to name but a few) round off our material palette.

The World Health Organisation expects stress related illness to be the largest contributor toward disease by 2020.  With diminished opportunity to connect with nature and universal technological acceptance (Smart Phones, Tablets etc) means we have less opportunity to recuperate our mental and physical energy. At Brandler London we strive to keep this core connection to nature in our products, helping improve the health and well being of our clients.

Biophilic design is a sustainable design strategy, seen as a necessary complement to green architecture, which decreases the environmental impact of the built world. Our products and philosophy are both geared towards minimising our contribution towards this negative impact, helping to relief pressure on nature and importantly ourselves.

September 2017

Raw wood top tips - Featured on Houzz

Get the Raw and Rustic Look

This month we were pleased to hear that we had been featured on the interiors website, Houzz. The article was about achieving a raw and rustic look, so no surprise they wanted to use an image by raw wood specialists Brandler London image.

For the article, Houzz included our warehouse conversion based in Southwark. This project made use of existing raw wood joists and exposed brickwork, bringing new life but holding onto character.

Alongside us, the article spotlighted other designers that were able to combine the use of natural and industrial materials into their designs.

Raw wood rustic dining london
hackney downs rustic kitchen raw wood

 

Giving helpful tips to create cozy yet contemporary living spaces. Projects featured included impressive uses of incorporating raw wood and metals into spaces that had exposed brickwork or distressed plaster. As well as making the most of your scuffed floorboards.

The Design

We were able to keep to the Brandler style by placing raw aged pine alongside polished concrete worktops, creating a crisp and contemporary design. We were lucky enough to reuse the raw wood from the existing joist to create the cabinet doors. Pair this with the buildings exposed brickwork and our choice of a soft green for the walls, we were proud of how light and relaxing a living space we had achieved.

“…vintage bricks instantly add character to any space. In a kitchen they create warmth, and here work brilliantly alongside natural wooden units.”

Other features of the design included recessed handles with routed steel back-plates as well as retrofitted lighting by Buster + Punch and fully fitted kitchen appliances.

At Brandler, we pride ourselves on being makers of bespoke cabinetry, and our Southwark warehouse is another example of how good we are at working weathered barn wood into high-end contemporary designs.

Please take a look at some other kitchen designs we have work on here.

dessert road industrial kitchen houzz raw wood

March 2017

Brandler London Penthouse - Home of a British Icon

Now British Olympic medalist Tom Daley’s home, our Southwark penthouse offers a glimpse of a property purchased by a British sporting icon. This 3-level unit features signature Brandler London kitchen and wardrobes, in our warm, textured reclaimed wood.

“I’m delighted with my new home, it’s a true reflection of the meticulous extra attention to detail and care that I’ve discovered Chris puts into every project he does.” – Tom Daley

The Building

Part of a Brandler London warehouse conversion, the historic structure was originally built for hops processing. It was filled with textured masonry and old timber. As a result, almost all of the reclaimed wood we used in the refurbishment was from the original warehouse. We then developed a material palette of concrete, metal, and reclaimed wood  to create a stunning composition of orthogonal lines throughout the home.

The Kitchen

We removed the warehouse’s old timber joists in construction and gave them new life to finish the open kitchen. Firstly, we used the reclaimed wood on the backlit floating shelves. These serve as a prime location to display the owner’s kitchen favourites. Secondly, we cut and planed the warehouse joists to create the doors and drawer fronts for the concealed kitchen storage. To complete the look, we clad the back of the kitchen peninsula  in reclaimed wood as well. We used concrete worktops with downlighting LED’s to contrast the warm, rich wood with sleek yet durable modern surfaces.

We located the kitchen and dining areas on the centre level, creating a hub of cooking, dining, and entertaining.

The Wardrobes

In addition to the kitchen, we used reclaimed wood from the warehouse in the master bedroom’s wardrobes. We fitted the drawer and door fronts with a light toned wood that features embedded rusted nails. Part of a foot-long measurement system, these numerated markings reveal the inner workings of this warehouse’s former life in the hops processing era.

And the Roof Deck

New bespoke mild steel stairs lead up to the new roof deck. Carefully designed with entertaining in mind, this space features a new jacuzzi and 270-degree views of the London skyline.

Each of these meticulously designed interventions sought to blend a modern aesthetic with historic and industrial materials. The result is a contemporary home in a historic building that feels modern and industrial while maintaining the warmth and textures of a well-loved home.

The project was a collaboration between Brandler London, Polly Playford who consulted for interior design, and Pravin Muthiah from Coupdeville as our lead architect.

The owner was also featured in his new kitchen in this recent post on the Guardian.

Find more images of Tom Daley’s home in our project gallery: Southwark Penthouse and Tom Daley’s Wardrobes.

*Disclaimer – Property dressed by Brandler London for photography and as such expressly does not in any way reflect the interior design style of the owner.