Royalty Studios

Notting Hill, London

Completed in 1986, this building pioneered a new working environment called ‘the studio’ in a purpose-built form. Previously, redundant industrial buildings had been adapted to provide low-cost accommodation for designers, but here the frustrations of working with existing buildings were the lessons that wrote the brief. The constraints of a rock-bottom budget required a rigorous paring down of elements, making few components do much work. It comprises sixteen self-contained units of 100m2. Client: Charterhouse Estates