Handcrafted since 1973
Inside the Project · St James's, London
Location
St James’s, Central London
Rooms
Bar, lounge and dining area
Programme
Part of a 12-month penthouse refurbishment
Signature
Backlit semi-precious green agate bar
Build Partner
R&K Bathrooms (structural build)
The bar and lounge were designed as a destination: the energy of a London night out, inside the home.
For Ampika this was the social heart of the penthouse, balancing Art Deco glamour with modern indulgence.
In Her Words
“The Martinez Hotel in the South of France is what I feel when I look at this bar.”Ampika
Two films: Ampika on the bar, then the living room, and how the spaces come to life when friends come over.
The Bar · Film · 4 min
The Living Room · Film · 5 min
More than any other room, the bar needed interpretation as well as a brief. Sketches, layouts and renders let us test the bar position, the seating and the layering of materials and light before anything was made.
By this stage of the refurbishment the structural work was done and the focus moved to character. The space was re-planned around the bar, the lounge seating and the dining area beyond.
The centrepiece is a backlit bar in semi-precious green agate, chosen for its vivid veining and jewel-like translucency.
It runs across the bar front and the shelving behind, and its glow marks the shift from day to evening.
This is a real bar rather than a kitchen extension, built with strict symmetry in the same chocolate mirror-finish cabinetry, gold trim and leather as the kitchen.
Lit glass shelving shows off spirits and crystal glassware, while refrigeration and ice storage are hidden in the joinery so every mixer is close at hand.
The lounge sits around the bar for easy conversation, with seating arranged for both comfort and company.
Beyond it, the dining area is framed by geometric brass screens that give glimpses between the spaces while keeping each one defined.
Custom-upholstered bar stools, leather panels and polished brass sit alongside a bespoke gold safe that doubles as a sculptural piece.
Even the practical elements, from storage to refrigeration, were designed to sit within the overall composition.
Bar
Backlit semi-precious green agate front and back panels
Cabinetry
Mirror-finish chocolate lacquer, gold trim, leather panels
Display
Lit glass shelving for spirits and crystal glassware
Hidden Storage
Integrated refrigeration and ice storage
Dining
Geometric brass screen doors
Feature
Bespoke gold safe
Green agate, brass and gold, photographed on the final shoot.
★★★★★ 5.0 from 21 Google reviews
Talk to the design team behind this bar, or start with our Look Book of recent projects. Everything is designed and made to order in our own workshop.
The final shoot, led by photographers Paul Craig and Arthur Siuksta, closed a twelve-month transformation.
It finished, fittingly, with a celebratory Tequila Rose.
The Full Penthouse
Film · 2 min
Inside the Project
Inside the Project
The 2026 Look Book
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