Too cool for school?

We were delighted to be asked to photograph this amazing creation - a new pre-prep school in Chelsea, South West London, which opens in September this year. 

The building, which formerly housed the Chelsea Conservative Club,  has a grand Victorian facade which has largely remained untouched and looks ideally suited to house a school - not too cool thus far.... However, it's the transformation inside that is something to see!

The creation is the vision of Stuart Bamford, who is Head of nearby Chelsea Pre Prep. It takes inspiration from "the magical world of children's literature and artistic film makers" in an effort to challenge "the culture of 'box-ticking' education". 

The school has 6 large classrooms, a performance studio, an enchanted garden and an Imaginarium - a space which transforms once the automatic blinds come down and the numerous projectors switch on. Suddenly you find yourself surrounded by swimming fishes in an underwater aquarium, the next minute surfing alongside a beach in a tropical paradise!  

We have no doubt it will be a delight for the children (aged 2-5 years) who will attend, but from a photographer's point of view it was a dream to shoot. 

Fully Furnished - The Furniture Union Shoot

Okay, I'm not gonna lie. A lot of the time this blog is just a vehicle to show off some lovely new photographs. And why not? It's our trade after all and we're good at it (Not meaning to be boastful, of course!). Plus we hear that google likes something new and a little boost to SEO performance wouldn't go amiss!

We are fortunate to work with a variety of super clients all over London ranging from estate agents to developers to architects and interior designers. And we like our property photography to come in various guises. It keeps us on our toes and stokes the inner embers of inspiration. Okay, I'll stop there!

The Furniture Union, a company who specialise in furnishing and interior design products invited us to shoot this fantastic property in Paddington, not far from Hyde Park and Imperial College. We found a marvellous new-build house on a private road decked out in stylish and elegant furnishings - and TFU had installed the kitchen and bathrooms to a high spec too.

Take a look at the wonderful results - I'd quite happily have this as my London pad. Just sayin'!

If you like what they do, just get in touch www.thefurnitureunion.com

The Bagel Factory - Flats For Sale In Hackney Wick

The Bagel Factory is a new, 140 flat development in the heart of Hackney Wick from Aitch Group property developers. Meticulously designed by Hawkins Brown, BuckleyGrayYeoman, and HWO Architects, the style of the apartments and decor reflects the industrial heritage of the area, and also the large artist population which makes Hackney Wick such a vibrant place to be.

The Bagel Factory is also on the Help To Buy scheme, an increasingly popular option in a tough London property market.

Here is some of our work from a half day shoot at this beautifully presented show flat for the development.

The selection from the bedrooms is lovely - we particularly like the wall of floor to ceiling Crittall windows, perfect for a renovated industrial building.

The urban chic in the bathroom here is softened with some greenery. The parquet-effect wall tiles are a particularly effective touch.

Colour choice in the kitchen is perfect for the industrial heritage theme.

The renovated warehouse feel of the exposed brick wall is offset by plain, light walls elsewhere, with soothing greys in the flooring and more of those fantastic steel windows.

A secluded, private balcony finishes this show flat off nicely!

To register your interest in a new home at The Bagel Factory, please contact the Aitch Group on 020 8504 4500 or

info@aitchgroup.com

farewell The Cricketers on the Green

It is always sad to see the closure of a pub. Even when it's those dangerous looking ones where you suspect the music stops when you walk in, I think of times past and what an area and a community must have been like. A long forgotten way of life that has been made obsolete by the demands of modern living. Sitting on prime real estate, only the best can survive. The writing must have been on the wall when photographer Stefan Czapski took this photo below in 2013 along with a caption "Not open for business on the day I took this photograph. You can't fancy its chances when there is a large and thriving pub - The Greyhound - just a minute's walk away."

Fast forward to 2017 and we found ourselves in Thames Ditton where the premises are available to let for residential use - what a shocker! However, we are not talking six new flats as you might expect. This plot has been converted into two very decent sized houses and many of the architectural features have been kept. The stained coat of arms in the front windows in particular were pleasing to see retained. And I'm sure the cricket team still plays!

Who knows, in 100 years perhaps someone will convert it back to a public house!

Property photography snapshot - Preparation

It may seem obvious, but getting your home ready for a photographer is really very important. An excess of clutter and personal belongings could mean the potential buyer misses how spacious the room is, or how marvellous that shiny granite worktop looks. 

As home photographers, our experience means we can instantly know what should and shouldn't be in shot, and we're happy to assist. However, it is a fine line between being a photographer and being a house clearance company! Far better that all of the big items, like a clothes horse, an ironing board and dirty washing are already all tucked neatly out of sight. Then we can concentrate our time on the finer details and make sure a home looks as best it possibly can.

As a last resort, when access is difficult or permission is not granted to move any items in a property, we do have one or two tricks up our sleeves. Check out Pixangle's photo editing skills on THESE!