Jewellery and ceramics specialist Completedworks has brought its distinctive brand of offbeat cool to a new showroom and studio in London’s Marylebone. London-based interior design studio Hollie Bowden worked closely with Completedworks’ artistic director Anna Jewsbury on the design, which is inspired by the textural forms of the brand’s jewellery itself.
‘The overall design of the space focused on a search for beauty and simplicity in this particular setting,’ Bowden tells us. ‘The space was quite a severe, industrial shell at the beginning. Anna was a dream partner for this project and we just gelled from the outset – I think we intuitively understood that what the brand needed was a carefully calibrated setting rather than an overly flashy, “interior-designy” approach. We focused on two materials, lime wash and aluminium, that ran through the space. The wrap-around lime wash created a perfectly neutral frame, and with aluminium we explored the different ways the material could be manipulated to create sculptural forms and structures – folding it, hammering and welding.’
Completedworks showroom: a sculptural approach
A juxtaposition of materials and an emphasis on architectural silhouettes draw from the jewellery; in some cases, particular pieces directly inspired the detailing, such as in the oversized aluminium handles, which reference Completedworks’ ‘Cohesion’ earrings.
‘The dull lustre of aluminium worked brilliantly for the display pieces, as the smooth, cool metal balanced the varied palette of Completedworks’ handmade pieces so well: reflective metallics, stones, matt resin, pearls, and earthy ceramic slip,’ Bowden adds. ‘I was looking for the contrast this traditionally industrial material offered to the fine and delicate jewellery pieces. The minimal, linear display language which runs throughout the showroom counteracts the sculptural, undulating jewellery and homewares Completedworks is so well known for. I particularly love how the sharp lines of the shelving units contrast with the organic and flowing forms of the folded, squeezed ceramics.’
Ultimately, functionality takes precedence in the space, which is part workshop, part showroom. ‘We decided that the whole “working” side of the space should be celebrated as a functioning atelier. Guests enter via the team's working area, and then descend the steel stairs into the showroom and jewellery workshop, where they can see the custom communal jewellery workshop bench we designed with my partner Byron Pritchard. It’s such an exciting opportunity to experience being immersed in the process, rather than just being a passive consumer. The primary challenge was to seamlessly incorporate functionality into the pieces we designed. I think the outcome is very sleek and sculptural but each piece had to be functional and flexible, like for example the packing table, which appears as a solid volume of aluminium but was designed to discreetly house packing material, and a hidden bubble wrap/tissue paper dispenser.’
