Want to see one of our worktops in a superbly stylish setting? Now you can at the recently opened Soho Home showroom in Foubert’s Place. The showroom has been designed as an apartment with curated room edits, from textiles and tableware to home fragrance. The kitchen space includes a striking bespoke-made unit featuring Diespeker terrazzo. Here’s how it came about.
Soho Home approached Browson Design & Build who make kitchens, larders, pantries and utility room cabinetry handcrafted from the finest materials. The business isn’t based in London, but upcountry in Richmond, Yorkshire. It’s a family affair, run by husband and wife team Sam and Claire Bainbridge plus Sam’s brother Tarn, who is the Spray Shop Supervisor. The workshops are located on a working farm managed by Sam’s dad.
Browson has a great reputation, with commissions coming via word of mouth recommendations. Having produced great work for several clients in London, they came to the attention of the Soho Home team who approached Browson for the new showroom collaboration.
The brief was very detailed, as Claire explains. “The Soho Home team are extremely creative and had a very specific brief for us to work to. They were aiming for a traditional but luxurious look with the cabinetry, with open shelving above the worktop.”
The cabinets were to be painted in ‘Mouse’s Back’ by Farrow and Ball, a grey-brown tone that takes its name from the fawny colour of the British field mouse. The Soho Home had included a swatch of the style of terrazzo they were keen on using for the worktop. This turned out to be Diespeker’s standard terrazzo TE064. “The terrazzo matched Mouse’s Back so well that we looked no further and went straight to Diespeker.”
Although Browson Design & Build usually undertake installation alongside design and build, because terrazzo was a new material for them, they asked Diespeker to do the install as well. The manufacture included the worktop and upstand, plus a cut out for an unusual, fluted Butler sink and square polished edges. Diespeker also sealed the worktop and provided aftercare information that Claire says was really helpful.
The attractive combination of traditional cabinetry and contemporary terrazzo design combine perfectly to make this a kitchen unit that sits well with the beautiful collection in Soho Home!
Creation: Browson Design & Build
Client: Soho Home
Photographer: Toby Mitchell
