Welcome to the second dispatch of ‘Showing Off’, House & Garden SA’s newest series where we take our readers into some of the world’s most inviting showrooms and shops.
Every month we’ll walk you through a new showroom, shedding new light on stunning furniture, kitchen essentials, art galleries, and more to inform you, our lovely readers on where to buy your next house and garden essential. Be sure to let us know on our Instagram which showrooms you’d like us to vist next!
Inside an elegant townhouse on a cobbled street, GUBI unveils its first permanent London showroom – a vision of 100 years of modern design unfolding over four curated floors. Opening in May 2024, 12 Charterhouse Square is GUBI’s first dedicated show-space in the UK.
Located in Charterhouse Square, close to Barbican and Farringdon stations, the imposing Grade-II-listed Georgian terrace stands on the site of a 12th-century Carthusian monastery, and typifies the iconic architecture for which the area is renowned.
Open to visit by appointment, GUBI House, London will welcome London’s community of designers, professional partners, and customers into a complete and immersive design world, featuring a considered and creatively curated selection of 20th-century icons and pioneering contemporary works.
“Set in the heart of London’s pre-eminent design district,12 Charterhouse Square is the perfect location for our first GUBI House outside of Denmark. This opening positions GUBI at the center of the city’s world-leading architecture and design community, shoulder to shoulder with some of the most revered names in global design,” says Marie Kristine Schmidt, Chief Brand Officer, GUBI UK-dedicated digital design boutique.
Inside GUBI House, London
GUBI House, London takes its interiors inspiration from the original features and layout of the townhouse. The design incorporates the building’s existing internal division into a series of intimate rooms, and demonstrating the timelessness of the collection in a sequence of thoughtfully curated spaces – a multilayered vision of contemporary townhouse living.
GUBI called on File Under Pop, a Danish creative studio that specializes in surface design, to enrich the walls, floors, and ceilings through the carefully selected deployment of clay, lava stone, paint, and hand-painted wallpaper.
The resulting colours and textures allow individual themes and design styles to shine while also creating a series of settings that evoke the atmosphere of a genuine home. GUBI House, London therefore has the feel, not just of a showroom, but of an authentic, liveable space, with both distinct design stories and a coherent aesthetic expression running throughout. Thoughtfully juxtaposed pieces of furniture to create nuanced themes – from elegant 1970s leisure and boho chic to boutique-hotel elegance and laidback communal living – given life and depth by File Under Pop’s thoughtfully curated surface design.
On the Ground Floor: Boutique Chic
Showcasing lounge and dining furniture, the ground floor captures the elegance and charm of a boutique hotel, spread over three spaces: a lounge, a dining/reading room, and a meeting room. Classics of 20th-century lighting design by the likes of Paavo Tynell, Louis Weisdorf, and Greta M. Grossman are presented alongside modern masterpieces such as GamFratesi’s now-iconic Beetle and Bat Lounge Chairs, and new Vanity Mirrors, as well as Space Copenhagen Private Collection of storage and display furniture.
First floor: 1970s Revival Style
On the first floor, GUBI House, London immerses guests in the laid-back and low-slung lounge living of the 1970s, with a grounding, earthy color palette, an integrated bar, and comfort-focused pieces such as Pierre Paulin’s cloud-like Pacha Lounge Chair and Illum Wikkelsø’s curvy Croissant Lounge Chair. Highly characterful lighting designs include the Gianfranco Frattini’s snake-like Aspide Table Lamp and the tasseled Model 597.
Second floor: Communal and Convivial
The second floor captures the playfulness and colour of a modern co-working club, and the relaxed intimacy of a modern bistro thanks to the likes of GamFratesi’s art deco IOI Coffee Tables, Violin and Masculo Dining Chairs, and Space Copenhagen’s Moon Dining Table, as well as Wikkelsø’s strikingly angular V11 Lounge Chair.
Third floor: Bohemian Revival
Things take on a distinctly bohemian feel at the top of the house. An eclectic selection of pieces from Gabriella Crespi’s Bohemian 72 Collection come together with Weisdorf’s head-turning Turbo Pendants. Instagram favorites such as the sinuous Timberline Floor Lamp by Mads Caprani, and Mathias Steen Rasmussen’s rope-backed MR01 Initial Lounge Chair catch the eye, while a relaxing living space, kitted out for comfort with Pacha Lounge Chairs, completes the scene.
Here in South Africa, you can find GUBI products at friends of House & Garden SA, Crèma Design in Woodstock, Cape Town.
