Mr H
Residence

A chimney structure built to be clad in marble

The centrepiece was a chimney structure created to carry marble cladding, with the flue integrated into it. That makes the joinery structural rather than decorative: it has to hold the weight of stone, stay true while the marble is fixed to it, and accommodate a working flue with the correct separation and insulation from every combustible surface around it. All of that has to be resolved before a single piece of marble arrives, because once the stone is on there is nothing left to adjust.

Stainless steel shelving set into marble-clad beams

Running through the same space, stainless steel shelves were integrated with timber beams which were themselves marble-clad — three materials meeting in one detail, each with different weight, movement and fixing requirements. Steel does not forgive an out-of-square opening the way timber does, and marble cladding hides no error underneath it. The sequence and the setting-out have to be right first time. This is the kind of multi-material work most joinery shops decline.

Through the rest of the house

Beyond the feature work, the package ran through the house: bedrooms, doors, the lobby entrance, mirror-clad walls, and a walk-in closet built around a central island. The mirror cladding is its own discipline — a mirrored wall shows every deviation in the substrate behind it, so the framing has to be flatter than for any timber finish. See wardrobes and walk-in closets and panelling and cladding.