In London’s dynamic residential landscape, where Victorian terraces meet contemporary living, Studio McW has masterfully reimagined a South West London property into the Sobremesa House – a home intrinsically designed for connection, conversation, and lingering long after the meal is done. Commissioned by Charlie and Joshua Karlsen, founders of the esteemed bespoke luxury catering company Opus 11, the project transcends mere renovation, evolving into a refined home meticulously crafted for hosting and evolving family life.
The architects undertook a comprehensive renovation and extension of the once-divided Victorian property, stripping it back to its shell. Faced with varying structural conditions, Studio McW rebuilt the precarious brick outrigger, re-using masonry and implementing new insulation alongside replacement sash windows. Crucially, the front exterior walls were insulated internally, preserving the essential Victorian detailing visible from the street while enhancing thermal comfort.
The clients’ core request was clear: expand the ground floor for a contemporary kitchen and dining space and add a new level via a loft conversion creating a guest bedroom with ensuite. Embracing an experimental and playful approach, the collaboration yielded an open-plan forever home centred around the Karlsens’ passion for entertaining. Their signature monthly Friday night dinners for clients and collaborators demanded a flexible layout enabling natural flow and a soft ambience, regardless of the occasion.
Studio McW’s design genius lies in creating distinct zones within the openness through deliberate thresholds. Soft, linear curves and elegant arches weave throughout the interior, offering moments of surprise and visual poetry on every level. A sensitively proportioned side extension unlocks the property’s full width, crucially accommodating a twelve-seater dining table and banquette seating, maximising hosting potential. This extension is bookended by an inspired internal courtyard garden – bathing the heart of the home in light and aiding cross-ventilation – and a vast picture window overlooking the newly hardscaped rear garden.
Completing the ground floor plan, a modest 1-metre rear extension floods the kitchen with light via striking 2.4 metre tall glazed doors and a romantic curved skylight. A sweeping brick curveseamlessly connects the side and rear extensions, appearing from the garden as if gently scooped away. This technically complex detail minimises visual impact for neighbours and enhances privacy. The extensions themselves are clad in pale buff-toned Weinberger bricks, laid in varied coursing patterns, with vertical bricks accentuating the elegant curve.
The undisputed star of the ground floor is the bespoke smoked oak and marble kitchen. A monolithic Violetta marble kitchen island provides an informal gathering hub, set against cabinetry featuring a vast curved alcove filled entirely with the same luxurious marble. Handmade arched oak joinery, designed by Studio McW and crafted by Idle Furniture, introduces warmth and softness, beautifully balancing the marble’s boldness. The sleek smoked-oak cabinetry integrates appliances flawlessly, creating a polished and inviting space.
The open-concept ground floor cleverly reconfigures the typical Victorian layout. A generously proportioned reception area welcomes guests, perfect for informal drinks, while a cosy lounge occupies the front, connected by an enlarged opening. Ascending the staircase, a double-height void draws the eye upwards to a rooflight, flooding the space with natural light. Hallways feature rounded edges and natural plaster, serving as a gallery for the owners’ art and lighting collection.
While the upper levels retain more of the original plan for bedrooms and bathrooms, they share the same design sensibility. The primary suite commands its own level, accessed through an impressive 12 square metre walk-in wardrobe in oak, concealing access to a stepped shower room. The bedroom itself is an airy sanctuary with textured lime wash walls, a custom bouclé headboard, and curtains framing a turret bay window – opened up to enhance ceiling height as a striking architectural focal point. A loft conversion provides a third guest bedroom with ensuite.
Materiality throughout the Sobremesa House is a masterclass in balance: timber flooring grounds the space, monochromatic marble adds bold weight, smoked oak joinery offers tactile warmth, cool polished concrete provides contrast, and lime wash walls deliver a soft, textured finish. Carefully integrated technology, including a whole-house audio system, ensures seamless functionality.
More than just a beautiful London home renovation, Sobremesa House by Studio McW embodies a spirit. It’s a celebration of function and form, creating a spirited yet easy-going atmosphere that invites relaxation and inspires conversation – the perfect forever home for hosts who understand that the true joy often lies in the sobremesa, the time spent together long after the plates are cleared.