The Founding by Conran and Partners blends nature and engineered design

Images: Taran Wilkhu

At Canada Water – one of London’s latest and most sustainable developments – is The Founding, a 186-apartment residential scheme featuring interiors by Conran and Partners. From studios to three-bedroomed offerings, interiors throughout pay homage to the neighbourhood’s industrial past with reference toward its green spaces and waterways.

Within the apartment block residents and guests enter into a double-height lobby adorned with a dark iron spiral staircase and mezzanine coworking space. “When designing the amenities and apartments at The Founding we looked at the impressive history and context of the local area to inspire our design,” says Simon Kincaid, partner of Conran and Partners. “This creates a beautiful, controlled balance of engineering and nature [which] manifests throughout, from the double height arrival lobby to the kitchens and bathrooms in the residences.” The use of walnut joinery and cladding to internal walls adds intimacy to the space, alongside warm lighting integrated to the joinery and floor lamps.

The theme of connecting residents both with nature and the history of the area continues in the apartments, which feature high ceilings with exposed concrete surfaces and views overlooking London. Inside the development’s ‘show apartments’, bespoke furnishings soften The Founding’s industrial architecture by Allies and Morrison; local designers including glass-maker Peter Layton and Maria Sigma (textiles) feature next to Kerry Hastings (ceramics) and furniture from antiques store LASSCO.

In the living areas, earthy tones with green, blue and orange reconnect residents with nearby parks and woodlands; in the kitchen, dark-veneered cabinets accompany black metal details and recessed handles with a backdrop of white metro tiles. Natural textures and patterns take precedence in the bedrooms, while the bathrooms continue the industrial aesthetic, partnered with light terracotta-toned tiles and walnut vanity units – again with black metal elements that hark back to Canada Water’s industrial past.