A London address,
not just a workplace
A private office in St James’s should feel like more than a workplace — it should feel like a London address. 5 St James’s Square is a Grade I listed Georgian townhouse on one of London’s most established addresses; the brief, led by LA-based Two Muse Studio for a private client, was to bring a quietly residential character to a suite of private offices — an alternative to the corporate fit-out that the building and its location would make incongruous.
Our scope covered a monumental reception desk in dark-stained oak and blackened steel; a family of sofas and lounge chairs specified to residential seat depth and pitch; and a run of oak storage units and credenzas that make the space feel like a calm city apartment rather than a conventional office. For more on blackened and finished steel, see steel fabrication.
An historic square with a domestic mood
St James’s Square has long been synonymous with London high society, framed by grand townhouses that once housed diplomats, statesmen and royalty. Today, 5 St James’s Square has been reimagined as discreet private offices, retaining its historic bones while welcoming a more contemporary way of working.
Two Muse’s concept was to treat these spaces less like a corporate HQ and more like a ‘home away from home’ — softer silhouettes, generous seating and honest materials layered to feel warm, tactile and lived-in. Our role was to translate that language into bespoke furniture and joinery that could stand up to daily use while sitting comfortably within the architecture and heritage of the building.
Collaborating with Two Muse Studio
Two Muse are known for interiors that blend mid-century ease with European formality — a hint of Californian ease worked in so that the result feels effortless rather than themed. For St James’s, they wanted furniture that felt unhurried, warm and precisely suited to a working day that also includes receiving guests.
We worked closely with their team on proportions, radii, leg profiles and seam details to develop a cohesive collection that bridges West Coast comfort and London formality: a reception desk, sofas, armchairs and storage units that anchor the scheme without ever feeling heavy-handed.
Blackened steel and graphite oak — quiet authority at the threshold
The reception desk is the first thing you see stepping from the lift, and it is designed to behave more like a piece of sculpture than an item of office furniture. It spans around three metres, formed in dark-stained oak — finished in a deep graphite tone that reads as timber rather than a flat block of colour — with a blackened steel frame and plinth whose matte patina catches the light without harshness.
Practical requirements are all resolved behind clean lines: concealed storage, cable runs, integrated power and a generous work surface. From the front, you read a single continuous gesture — planes of timber and steel, with carefully softened edges wherever a hand might naturally rest.
Solving the access puzzle
The building’s historic layout and tight access routes made delivering the desk in one piece impossible. We engineered the steel framework and cladding to arrive in carefully planned sections, carried through existing stair cores and corridors, then assembled and welded it in situ — millimetre-accurate fabrication, sequenced to protect surrounding finishes.
Once the welding and grinding were complete, we applied the blackening treatment and protective wax on site before fitting the final three-metre steel top plate to ensure a seamless junction between timber and steel. That level of coordination is invisible to the end user, but it is fundamental to why the desk reads as a single, monolithic piece.
A residential spirit — generous seat depths for a working day
Beyond reception, breakout and meeting spaces are furnished with sofas and lounge chairs developed to feel more like a private apartment than a boardroom — more living room than lobby. Seat depths are generous, backs are supportive at working pitch, and arm profiles are softened and rounded. Mid-century references — clean-lined frames, considered proportions — sit comfortably within the Georgian rooms without competing with the architecture.
Bespoke upholstery for comfort
The upholstery palette was developed with Two Muse: textured neutrals, subtle colour, a mix of tactile fabrics that photograph beautifully but, more importantly, wear well over time. We worked with our upholstery partners to fine-tune foam densities, layering softer toppers over supportive cores for seats that feel inviting from the first moment and retain their structure over years of use.
Bespoke upholstery details — stitched seams, tailored piping and correctly positioned maintenance zips — give each piece a couture finish without tipping into fussiness.
Where appropriate, we introduced subtle changes of texture — a different weave on an accent chair, a slightly richer fabric on a feature sofa — to give designers visual rhythm within the floorplate. These moves help the spaces feel curated rather than ‘fitted out’, aligning with Two Muse Studio’s residentially inspired brief.
Minimal fronts, judged reveals — discreet storage throughout
Storage units and credenzas run through the office in a complementary oak finish — places to tuck away files and AV equipment, display art books or house a coffee set-up between meetings. Carcasses are fabricated in high-quality birch ply for stability, then faced in oak veneers selected to sit alongside the dark-stained reception desk without matching it too directly. Discreet shadow gaps, handleless doors and soft-close hardware keep the visual line calm and uninterrupted throughout.
Internally the storage is highly practical — adjustable shelves, cable management routes and ventilated equipment sections — but from the room, each unit reads simply as a clean architectural volume.
A private office that feels like an address
The finished scheme at St James’s Square sits somewhere between members’ club, pied-à-terre and discreet workplace. The dark-stained oak, blackened steel and bespoke upholstery bring a sense of permanence and personality to the interiors, while the layout and comfort cues borrow confidently from residential design — an environment where the furniture anchors the character as much as the listed architecture does.
“James produced highly custom, and quite complex, pieces for a luxury commercial space we were designing in London. As a Los Angeles firm taking on an overseas project, we needed a trusted vendor who could deliver the craftsmanship our clients expect. He managed the upholstery, metal and wood production through his workshops, guided us through pricing, sampling and thoughtful design adjustments, and went above and beyond throughout. I can’t recommend his services enough.”Katelyn Pascavis · Founder, Two Muse Studio, Los Angeles