A Victorian Terrace House in London Sidesteps Convention to Double as a Private Art Gallery

Words by Eric David5 November 2026

Renovations of Victorian terraced houses often follow familiar lines, favouring either a contemporary makeover or a reinterpretation of period character. Stepwell House, an art collector’s home in Stoke Newington, north London, takes a more unconventional approach. Designed by architecture practice Wadhal, in collaboration with interior designer and gallerist Max Radford, the three-level house brings together industrial metalwork, earthy materials and furnishings spanning more than a century of design with a confidence that makes their contrasts feel entirely natural. Centred on a skylit, double-height atrium that serves as a gallery and opening onto a sculptural courtyard inspired by South Asian stepwells, the house is as unorthodox in its layout as it is in its aesthetic.

Two contemporary artworks featuring timber surfaces animate an upper-level passage at Stepwell House, their warm tones complementing the soft pink clay-washed walls. A stainless steel mesh balustrade and grated walkway introduce an industrial counterpoint, their transparent construction overlooking the double-height gallery below and reinforcing the house’s recurring grid motif. — Photography by Genevieve Lutkin.

A wide view of Stepwell House’s central atrium reveals the stainless steel staircase and mesh balustrades beneath an elevated gridded walkway, framed by exposed white-painted structural beams. The pale concrete floor and clay-washed walls lend the gallery a restrained atmosphere, allowing sculptural artworks, including a playful white organic form, to stand out. — Photography by Genevieve Lutkin.

Before the renovation, the house suffered from a lack of natural light and poor access to its garden, while offering insufficient space to accommodate its owners’ extensive art collection. Wadhal’s founder, Fahad Malik, responded by sacrificing more than a third of the internal floor area, including a bedroom, to create a double-height gallery at the heart of the home. Illuminated by a large skylight, the space also functions as an atrium and circulation core connecting the basement with the main living spaces on the ground floor. Clay-washed walls, poured concrete floors and a stainless steel staircase, its weld marks deliberately left visible, provide a restrained backdrop for the art while establishing the scheme’s distinctive combination of industrial materials and handcrafted finishes.

Underpinning the scheme’s visual coherence is a grid motif that runs throughout the house. In the central atrium, stainless steel mesh forms transparent balustrades and a walkable bridge that allows daylight to filter down into the gallery, reappearing as shelving in the kitchen and bathrooms. The same pattern is picked up in the bespoke fumed oak joinery and doors, the square fossil stone bathroom tiles and the hand-nailed, finger-jointed oak fence outside.

A sculptural stainless steel staircase rises from the basement gallery at Stepwell House, partially screened by a transparent metal mesh partition. Exposed structural beams, pale concrete flooring and softly textured pink walls reinforce the interplay of industrial precision and tactile warmth, while a metallic bird-like sculpture provides an unexpected decorative accent. — Photography by Genevieve Lutkin.

Looking upwards through Stepwell House’s central atrium, a large skylight illuminates the pale pink walls, dark fumed-oak panels and stainless steel mesh balustrades. Exposed white-painted beams frame the opening, emphasising the interplay of solid and transparent elements that characterises Wadhal’s architectural intervention and brings natural light into the windowless gallery below. — Photography by Lorenzo Zandri.

A stainless steel mesh walkway bridges the double-height atrium of Stepwell House, connecting the upper-level rooms while allowing daylight to filter into the gallery below. Dark fumed-oak joinery contrasts with the pale pink walls and light-filled void, while a figure standing near the distant windows provides a sense of scale and spatial depth. — Photography by Lorenzo Zandri.

A minimalist seating arrangement in Stepwell House’s basement gallery features a slender metal-framed chair with dark leather upholstery against pale pink clay-washed walls. Above, a translucent metal grating and exposed white-painted steel beams reveal the industrial construction of the elevated walkway, while the pale concrete floor reinforces the space’s restrained, gallery-like atmosphere. — XR Mesh Chair by LS Gomma; Chamber Sconce by E.J.R. Barnes. Photography by Lorenzo Zandri.

A compact bathroom at Stepwell House features walls clad in square British fossil-stone tiles, their varied grey-green tones and intricate natural markings lending texture to the minimalist interior. A bespoke rectangular stone basin, stainless steel tap and mirrored cabinet complement the restrained palette, while a partially open fumed-oak sliding door reveals the continuity of the house’s material language. — XR Mesh Chair by LS Gomma; Chamber Sconce by E.J.R. Barnes. Photography by Lorenzo Zandri.

A narrow corridor at Stepwell House leads towards the rear courtyard, where the sculptural limestone-filled gabion structure is visible through an open glazed door. Pale concrete flooring and softly textured walls contrast with dark timber joinery, while daylight from the courtyard illuminates the passage, emphasising the connection between the home's interior and exterior spaces. — Photography by Lorenzo Zandri.

Floor-to-ceiling sliding glass doors frame Stepwell House's sculptural rear courtyard, where staggered tiers of reddish limestone encased in stainless steel mesh evoke traditional South Asian stepwells. Softly gathered white curtains and pale concrete flooring establish a calm, minimalist interior, contrasting with the rugged texture and intricate geometry of the stone-filled gabions outside. — Photography by Lorenzo Zandri.

An oblique view from the basement living space reveals the stepped gabion structure that dominates Stepwell House’s rear courtyard. Stainless steel mesh cages filled with reddish limestone create an irregular terraced landscape, juxtaposed with neighbouring brickwork and smooth plastered walls. Sheer curtains, pale flooring and a dark timber table soften the industrial composition. — Photography by Lorenzo Zandri.

The grid motif finds its most expressive form at the back of the property, where a stepped structure of stainless steel mesh gabions filled with reddish limestone takes over the former yard. Inspired by traditional South Asian stepwells and the work of Indian-American artist Zarina Hashmi, the composition of staggered, cascading tiers offers places to sit and linger while connecting the basement courtyard to the ground-floor kitchen and living area via a short steel bridge. Yet its most compelling quality is sculptural: viewed through the house’s extensive glazing, it reads as a monumental artwork, hence

A close-up of Stepwell House’s sculptural courtyard installation reveals an intricate arrangement of staggered, limestone-filled gabions. Their irregular, stepped configuration recalls traditional South Asian stepwells, while the rigid stainless steel mesh contrasts with the rough, reddish stone. The composition alternates solid blocks and recessed spaces, creating a geometric landscape with a distinctly industrial character. — Photography by Lorenzo Zandri.

The rear courtyard of Stepwell House features a stepped composition of reddish limestone contained within stainless steel mesh cages, set against a dark gridded boundary screen. An elevated steel bridge spans the courtyard, connecting the gabion structure with the upper living spaces, while full-height glazed doors and a gravel-covered passage reinforce the relationship between architecture and landscape. — Photography by Lorenzo Zandri.

Viewed from the rear courtyard, Stepwell House reveals its interplay of traditional London brickwork, expansive glazing and industrial steel mesh. The stepped limestone-filled gabion structure rises towards a suspended metal walkway connecting to the ground-floor living spaces, while cascading ornamental grasses soften the angular composition. Below, large windows open the basement rooms towards the courtyard. — Photography by Lorenzo Zandri.

This juxtaposition of industrial and tactile materials finds its counterpart in Radford’s eclectic furniture selection, which moves freely between eras, pairing contemporary pieces with Viennese Secessionist and mid-century modern designs. In the open-plan living, dining and kitchen area, which has its own skylight and large windows overlooking the gabion structure, a bespoke glass-topped metal dining table by Radford and Eddie Olin is paired with Kazuhide Takahama’s sleek 1970s Jano chairs, reupholstered in brown velvet. Above, a 1917 pendant light by Josef Hoffmann for the Wiener Werkstätte lends a touch of early-20th-century elegance, complemented by Adolf Loos’s Loosbar sconces, originally designed for a Viennese bar in 1908.

Nearby, a chocolate-brown Puffer two-seat sofa by Philippe Malouin for SCP keeps company with Olin’s metallic Bullnose low table and a sculptural ceramic side table by Floris Wubben, their curvaceous forms offset by the engineered geometry of Martin Visser’s 1960s SZ01 lounge chair in chrome-plated steel and cane. The palette of dark browns and metallic finishes carries into the adjoining kitchen, where fumed oak cabinetry, stainless steel surfaces and open mesh shelving bring a quietly luxurious quality to an otherwise utilitarian aesthetic.

The dining area at Stepwell House combines a bespoke glass-topped metal table by Max Radford and Eddie Olin with Kazuhide Takahama’s 1970s Jano chairs, upholstered in brown velvet, and a custom bench. A Josef Hoffmann Wiener Werkstätte pendant hangs above, its delicate form contrasting with the industrial steel mesh visible through the adjoining doorway. — Dining table by Max Radford and Eddie Olin; Bench by Max Radford. Jano dining chairs by Kazuhide Takahama; Light pandant by Josef Hoffmann for Wiener Werkstätte; Loosbar sconce by Adolf Loos. Photography by Genevieve Lutkin.

The dining area of Stepwell House pairs a bespoke glass-topped metal table by Max Radford and Eddie Olin with Kazuhide Takahama’s 1970s Jano chairs in brown velvet and a custom upholstered bench. A Josef Hoffmann pendant, Adolf Loos wall sconce and contemporary artworks enrich the composition, while pale pink walls soften the dark timber joinery. — Shelving unit by Max Radford and Oscar Partridge; Dining table by Max Radford and Eddie Olin; Jano dining chairs by Kazuhide Takahama; Light pandant by Josef Hoffmann for Wiener Werkstätte; Loosbar sconce by Adolf Loos. Photography by Genevieve Lutkin.

The minimalist kitchen at Stepwell House combines richly textured fumed-oak cabinetry with stainless steel worktops and a recessed metallic backsplash. Open wire-mesh shelving and geometric display compartments introduce an industrial sensibility, while the dark timber’s intricate square pattern provides warmth and visual interest. Carefully placed ceramics lend the composition a gallery-like quality. — Puffer two-seat sofa by Philippe Malouin for SCP; Wubben side table by Floris Wubben; SZ01 lounge chair by Martin Visser. Photography by Genevieve Lutkin.

A large, crumpled gold-toned artwork commands attention along the upper-level passage at Stepwell House, its irregular metallic surface contrasting with the precision of the steel mesh balustrade and grated walkway. Beyond, the open-plan kitchen and living area reveals dark fumed-oak cabinetry, contemporary furniture and softly filtered daylight. — Photography by Genevieve Lutkin.

Viewed from the upper-level walkway, Stepwell House’s double-height gallery reveals Josef Hoffmann’s black timber-and-leather Armlöffel chair beneath a white-painted structural beam. Stainless steel stairs and mesh balustrades frame the composition, contrasting with the pale concrete floor and pink walls, while a colourful abstract painting adds a vibrant accent. — Photography by Genevieve Lutkin.

Philippe Malouin’s chocolate-brown Puffer sofa for SCP brings generous curves and tactile softness to Stepwell House’s living area, complemented by crisp white cushions. Behind it, a large abstract artwork in muted rust tones hangs above a low metal bookshelf, while a slender timber sculpture introduces a contrasting vertical accent against the pale pink walls. — Puffer two-seat sofa by Philippe Malouin for SCP; Shelving unit by Max Radford and Oscar Partridge; Bullnose low table by Eddie Olin; Loosbar sconce by Adolf Loos. Photography by Genevieve Lutkin.

The double-height gallery at Stepwell House in London juxtaposes exposed white-painted steel beams, industrial mesh flooring and pale concrete with soft pink clay-washed walls. A colourful abstract painting and a black geometric chair punctuate the restrained interior, while overhead metal grating introduces an additional layer of structural transparency. — Armlöffel chair by Josef Hoffmann; Chamber Sconce by E.J.R. Barnes. Photography by Genevieve Lutkin.

Elsewhere, Loos-designed coat hooks and door handles introduce a discreet note of Viennese modernism to the lobby, while Josef Hoffmann’s black timber-and-leather Armlöffel chair, designed in 1908, takes its place among the artworks in the gallery. In the bedroom, a bespoke goat leather headboard and matching bedspread bring a cocooning warmth to the room, their stitched square pattern echoed by Olivia Bossy’s cubic No. 0222 wall lamps and, by extension, the grid motif that runs through the entire house.

“The Stepwell House examines how both ancient and contemporary design can be recontextualised, and come to belong in the same home,” says Malik. Belonging is the operative word: a Victorian shell, an industrial palette, a South Asian archetype and a century of European furniture have little obvious reason to get along, yet here they sit as comfortably as old acquaintances. Stepwell House is proof that the most memorable interiors rarely come from the most predictable thinking.

The bedroom at Stepwell House embraces a moody, intimate aesthetic with a bespoke goat-leather headboard and matching bedspread, their stitched square pattern introducing a subtle geometric rhythm. Dark timber panelling frames the bed, while Olivia Bossy’s angular No. 0222 wall lamps cast a warm, symmetrical glow against the softly illuminated ceiling. — No. 0222 wall lamps by Olivia Bossy’. Photography by Genevieve Lutkin.

Dark British fossil-stone tiles envelop a compact bathroom at Stepwell House, their square format echoing the recurring grid motif throughout the residence. A bespoke wall-mounted stone basin, stainless steel fixtures and mirrored cabinetry reinforce the minimalist, utilitarian aesthetic, while the stone’s visible fossil markings introduce natural texture and geological character. — No. 0222 wall lamps by Olivia Bossy’. Photography by Genevieve Lutkin.

A contemporary white sculpture with intertwined, bulbous forms and a large, vividly coloured abstract painting animate the basement gallery of Stepwell House. Overhead, a steel mesh walkway introduces an industrial counterpoint to the softly textured pink walls and polished concrete floor, while directional lighting accentuates the artworks against the subdued surroundings. — Cloud Canyons by David Medella. Painting by Frank Bowling. Photography by Genevieve Lutkin.