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A new central spiral staircase by Michaelis Boyd reorganises a narrow, wedge\u2011shaped Georgian townhouse in west London, creating light-filled, multifunctional rooms across five floors while keeping the historic fa\u00e7ade intact for chef Andrew Wong and his family.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n
A sweeping spiral staircase now threads through a reconfigured Georgian townhouse in west London, forming the organising gesture of a compact family home for chef Andrew Wong and his family. According to the original Dezeen report, the intervention by architecture studio Michaelis Boyd replaces a tuckedaway rear stair with a flowing, sculptural spine that connects all five floors and reshapes how the narrow, wedge\u2011shaped plan is used. The property, known as Flat Iron House, is the place Wong grew up in and has returned to with his wife Nathalie Beufond and their children. <\/p>\n
Relocating the staircase to the building\u2019s centre was described by Alex Michaelis as the crucial move that \u201cunlocked the house.\u201d He told Dezeen that placing the stair centrally allowed the team to organise living areas and bedrooms on one side and bathrooms on the other, turning previously wasted rear corners into usable rooms. The project had to work within the constraints of a conservation area, so the principal Georgian fa\u00e7ade remains intact while the internal plan was rethought to suit family life. <\/p>\n
Michaelis Boyd made the stair the project\u2019s sculptural heart: an organic, spiral form that intersects each floor and culminates in a double\u2011height void beneath a new skylight at attic level. According to the studio, the new central position of the stair also draws daylight into the house via reinstated sash windows and the top\u2011light, helping to animate the minimalist interior through natural light and shadow. <\/p>\n
At ground level the staircase announces itself beside the entrance, separating a blue\u2011painted boot room from a kitchen\u2011diner. The kitchen establishes the earthy, pared\u2011back material language used throughout: a large dark timber island with a marble top, a bespoke leather banquette in the dining area and a tall indoor tree that brings a biophilic note into the centre of the plan. The owners asked for an internal palette that evoked memories of holidaying in a Moroccan villa, a restraint that the architects interpreted through layered, textured paints and natural materials rather than ornament. <\/p>\n
Michaelis said the surrounding finishes were chosen so the interiors would \u201ccomplement rather than compete\u201d with the staircase, adding that \u201cthis minimalism flows throughout the house, anchoring the architecture and allowing natural light and shadow to do much of the work,\u201d in comments made to Dezeen. Oak floors, Provence limestone, fine fabrics and carefully detailed joinery provide tactile variation and warmth within the deliberately uncluttered scheme. <\/p>\n
Below ground level the family room opens onto twin courtyards at either side, ensuring light reaches the basement despite the confined plan. The architects fitted a large curved sofa that echoes the stair\u2019s geometry, and retained the original chimney wall, softening its edges to meet bespoke cabinetry. A guest suite with an en\u2011suite sits adjacent to the living spaces, with steps leading further down to a utility area and the house\u2019s original vaulted cellar, now fitted with storage and book shelving. <\/p>\n
Bathrooms are positioned at the narrowest seam of the plan on the first and second floors; here the practice made space for freestanding bathtubs and showers enclosed by gently curving walls clad in Japanese\u2011style tiles. The main bedroom benefits from dual\u2011aspect windows, looking forward to views of Battersea Power Station and backwards towards the Chelsea water tower chimney through a newly created opening in the rear elevation. The attic was reworked into an additional bedroom with bespoke cabinetry shaped to the apex, augmented by new skylights that frame neighbouring chimney tops. <\/p>\n
Michaelis Boyd had initially hoped for a light\u2011touch renovation but the practice found the existing joists to be in poor condition, necessitating a near\u2011complete rebuild within the constrained envelope. \u201cWith only around 36 square metres per floor, fitting in the full programme and required storage without sacrificing volume was a constant challenge,\u201d Michaelis told Dezeen, noting that the irregular geometry made \u201cevery millimetre\u201d count and required custom joinery and meticulous execution. <\/p>\n
The Flat Iron House project sits comfortably within Michaelis Boyd\u2019s established catalogue. The practice, founded by Alex Michaelis and Tim Boyd in 1996, is known for carefully calibrated interiors that prioritise light, flow, material tactility and biophilic touches. Industry project pages and features record the studio\u2019s work on the Battersea Power Station redevelopment, where it designed interiors for hundreds of apartments and developed two complementary material palettes that draw on the site\u2019s industrial character, alongside other residential and hospitality commissions that favour sculptural stair elements and finely detailed joinery. Profiles of the founders describe a client\u2011centred process and a willingness to adopt playful, bespoke interventions within rigorous, technically precise schemes. <\/p>\n
For Andrew Wong, a Michelin\u2011recognised chef whose own biography traces a childhood and career rooted in Cantonese family cooking, the remade home appears to balance the practical demands of family life with the kind of composed, light\u2011filled minimalism the owners wanted. According to the restaurant\u2019s official profile, Wong and his wife Nathalie run their acclaimed restaurant together, and returning to a childhood home reworked to suit contemporary family routines adds a personal layer to the architectural narrative. <\/p>\n
Flat Iron House is a compact, carefully resolved example of how a single, decisive architectural move can reorganise a constrained urban interior. By turning circulation into the central spatial device and pairing that gesture with a muted, earthy palette and considered daylighting, Michaelis Boyd has produced a home that reads as both sculptural intervention and quietly domestic setting\u2014an outcome consistent with the studio\u2019s broader work translating context, material memory and biophilic ideas into everyday spaces. <\/p>\n