The WOW!house factor

London’s WOW!house set is taking it outside for 2025. The fourth annual showcase of leading interior design talent, craftsmanship and decorative arts takes place from 3 June to 3 July at the Design Centre, Chelsea Harbour and, for the first time, offers top-tier garden inspiration alongside the room schemes by renowned creators. 

“The 2025 edition of WOW!house promises to set a new precedent with more boundary-pushing room schemes than ever before,” says Claire German, CEO of the Design Centre, Chelsea Harbour. “We call it the world’s longest bungalow. The addition of our Artorius Faber Entrance Garden by Alexander Hoyle and a double-height façade by ADAM Architecture will ensure visitors experience the impact as soon as they arrive.”

Launched in 2022, WOW!house has quickly become a landmark event in the industry calendar. It teams both emerging and established interior designers with textile brands, furniture-makers, paper and paint producers. Together they embark on a creative enterprise, designing rooms that challenge convention or simply explore the potential of the sponsoring brands and their associated crafts. These designs are then installed in a 22-room house at the heart of the Design Centre – with the stipulation that all schemes must be recyclable. 

This year we can look forward to Shepel’s Home Bar by Toni Black of Blacksheep, Stark’s The Curator’s Room by Spinocchia Freund and Lopen Joinery’s Kitchen by Ben Pentreath Studio.

Reflecting the increasing attention paid to the space outside our homes, a number of exterior or transitory spaces are also on the agenda. “Ours is a modern take on the traditional English garden,” says the plantsman and designer Alexander Hoyle. His Entrance Garden, designed with natural stone specialists Artorius Faber, mixes planting with paving and a dry-stone wall. “My design aesthetic combines form and function, green architecture and planting with a style that is a little wild and fanciful,” Hoyle says. 

The terrace will also receive some attention – from interior architects Goddard Littlefair. “It’s the essence of an Andalusian courtyard, a space that feels like an escape, rooted in nature, rich in texture and layered with soft light and shadow,” say the duo, whose launchpad for the Courtyard design is a recent Moorish-inspired hotel project in Marbella. It incorporates furniture from Sutherland’s new Crescent collection with fabrics and wall coverings from Perennials in neutral and rusty shades.

In a space encased in glass, the landscape designers Randle Siddeley will imagine a palm court for the 21st century, in conjunction with Studio Miaki and McKinnon and Harris, makers of handcrafted furniture. “It’s a transitional space, marking the journey from the interior to the garden beyond – an opportunity to immerse visitors in an opulent setting filled with lush, abundant planting,” the designers say. 

For the creatives involved, WOW!house provides the perfect platform to test their most imaginative ideas. For visitors, it’s like walking into the pages of a favourite interiors magazine. For a short while, you can lose yourself in an imaginary world – conceived by the industry’s thought leaders. 

3 June-3 July 2025; WOW!house