Header: “Garden Folly Room” by Studio Enass, photo by James McDonald
WOW!house is one of the most anticipated events on the international design calendar, known for drawing an international audience to experience the best of interior design and architecture. The event is held in an immersive showhouse, built from the ground up at Design Centre, Chelsea Harbour, from the 2nd of June to the 2nd of July.
Now in its fifth year, the month-long event has become a cultural landmark, welcoming more and more visitors to experience the original visions of world-class interior designers and architects. Working in collaboration with world-renowned brands, A-listers and rising stars alike create 22 full-size rooms and outdoor spaces that spark wide-ranging conversations about the current spirit of design and what might come next.
Golden threads
Distinct themes are set to run through WOW!house 2026, as designers explore ideas that reflect the current moment in the industry.
- Past, Present, Future. Refracting the past through a new lens, WOW!house 2026 designers create an ode to craft and collaboration alongside expert artisans and specialists while embracing media as a form of expression and technology as both experience and function. With a heightened focus on technology, many designers will be using lighting systems, audio systems, smart screens and more.
- Fluidity. This theme is defined by more curved walls and round spaces, which serve as a counterpoint to rooms grounded in classical proportions and straight lines. Visitors will be able to see interior architecture that contributes to a sense of movement and has the potential to foster change. References to the Georgian and Art Deco periods abound, but where those are not the prevailing architectural allusions, there’s also a turn toward futurism and something instinctive in feeling.
- Cocooning. Here, wall-to-wall fitted carpets, tented ceilings and fabric covering the entire space can be found. Materials are chosen to support comfort and a sense of safe haven, creating the sense that the walls were designed to embrace.
- Surprise, surprise! Another fun theme will be spaces that reveal themselves slowly, offering up surprises – look for hidden doors, special alcoves, little niches and rooms within rooms.
- Culture. A cohort of sophisticated designers celebrate creativity in a wider societal context, refining ideas and reflecting currents in art, collecting and interiors with refinement, honouring historical precedents and embracing how they move forward.
Arriving in style
Building on last year’s sense of welcome, there is a new collaborative vision for the moment of arrival: a designer, an architect and landscape architects worked together to create a dialogue between the Entrance Garden, the main Façade and this year’s most exciting addition, the Garden Folly.
Room narratives
“Garden Folly Façade” by Darren Price of Adam Architecture for Hector Finch
Built to enchant, the Garden Folly offers a new element of surprise in the landscape of WOW!house 2026. In what Price calls a “moment of permission”, it allows him free rein to play with the rules of classical architecture, nodding to the fun formality of the 18th-century. Central to the build is the collaboration with lighting designer Hector Finch, whose new verdigris finish makes its global debut.
“Garden Folly Room” by Studio Enass
A precious jewel box, layered with velvet seating, intricate coquillage, a decorative mirrored ceiling and vivid, patterned tiles. Blending her own heritage with Mannerist and Rococo notes, founder Enass Mahmoud brings softness and sensuality to an opulent oasis, part tropical idyll, part North African hotel. Based in London and Dubai, her practice honours individuality, culture and craftsmanship.
“Artorius Faber Entrance Garden” by The Gardenists
Hay Hwang translates the English landscape tradition into something deeply livable. “The arched loggias, the lion mask fountain, the rhythm of the columns… every element has grammar and precedent”, she says, adding that “it’s classicism, but worn lightly“. British stone by Artorius Faber provides an authentic foundation for the simple planting and naturalistic luxury that characterise The Gardenists’ style, inspired here by Georgian walled gardens and Capability Brown.
“Size Group Façade” by Darren Price of Adam Architecture
Scene: London, with the social season in full swing. The city hums with carriage wheels and conversation. Crossing the square, you come to a familiar house, which Darren Price has reimagined with a deft hand and discerning eye and built with expert craftsmanship by Size Group. He salutes the architects who shaped Georgian London (Sir John Soane, Nicholas Hawksmoor, George Dance the Younger and John Nash) but iterates without imitating.
“Entrance Hall” by Francis Sultana
Merging English design and Continental flair, Sultana reinvents precedent in collaboration with artisans and craft-based brands. Filled with contemporary art and collectable design, exquisite elements delight and surprise at every turn.
“Turnell & Gigon Group Drawing Room” by Albion Nord
After a rollicking dinner, no one wants the evening to end. Guests can, then, retreat to this octagonal drawing room where formality and invitation go hand in glove. While the architecture skews Georgian, layered with hand-blocked Filling Spaces walling fabric and custom trimmings made by Les Passementeries de l’Ile de France and Tim Page rugs, together with soulful antiques, this room feels like a home for bright young things who believe in craftsmanship, artistry and the idea that “there is no beauty without character”.
“Shepel’ Library” by Róisín Lafferty
“Libraries represent something profoundly resonant to me. They are places of introspection, imagination and cultural memory”, Lafferty said, adding that “they hold stillness, but also possibility”. She conjures a world where tempo softens, everything outside fades and discovery takes over. With hidden alcoves and concealed doors (exquisite joinery is the work of Shepel’), the space has an uninterrupted flow shaped by discipline and restraint, hallmarks of this Irish designer’s practice. Reimagining Art Deco’s architectural grandeur and precise craftsmanship, she creates a cocoon with sweeping curves of custom joinery, a dark and moody palette, intricate marquetry and high-gloss lacquer.
“Lalique Home Bar” by Elicyon
Just 20 sqm, the Home Bar offers a journey for the curious, celebrating Lalique’s unmistakable artistic identity and its century-long mastery of crystal. Here, the material is found in lighting, objects, furniture and architectural panels, making the final showroom a cabinet of curiosities: backlit alcoves, hidden compartments, mirrored planes, a champagne fridge and unexpected niches.
“Benjamin Moore Minhwa Salon” by Young Huh
“Unapologetic maximalism celebrating Korean folk art and personal heritage“, that’s how this New York-based designer imagines a vivid, modern interior. Inspired by the Millions Room at Schönbrunn Palace with its Indian miniature paintings set inside baroque panelling, Huh inserts lacquered walls with minhwa panels, hand-painted by Fromental using an array of Benjamin Moore paints.
“Phillip Jeffries Morning Room” by Sara Cosgrove
Inspired by nostalgia for slower rituals (reading print magazines, long conversations, uninterrupted time and drawing boards), this room is enveloped in Phillip Jeffries’ ethereal “Aura” wallpaper, whose textures evoke the lightness of a couture gown with layers of the finest silk, floating on air. With a background as Head of Interior Design at Harrods, it’s no surprise Cosgrove draws on fashion to inform her aesthetic. Here, celadon, cream and lavender tones create a diaphanous sense of calm. This is a contemplative space shaped by poetry, clarity and quiet confidence, expressing this Dublin-based designer’s mantra: “design that elevates“.
“Salvesen Graham The Collection Primary Bedroom” by Salvesen Graham
Channelling the spirit of a historic American home (loved and lived in by Brits), this transatlantic dreamscape offers a poised dialogue between architecture and decoration. Coffered ceilings, cornicing and panelled walls provide gravitas, softened with fabrics from Salvesen Graham’s latest collection. A literary spirit unfolds through books, antiques and firelit corners. Dusty pink, rhubarb and roses. Block print and flamestitch. A soaring four-poster bed and an elegant Regency fireplace. Darren Price of Adam Architecture makes a cameo appearance here, as he developed the classical framework and architectural detailing.
“Samuel Heath Primary Bathroom” by Rigby & Rigby
Shaped by Scandinavian and Japanese bathing rituals, this space caters to wellness and balances authentic materials and technological innovation. A sculptural Ofuro bathtub is contrasted by an immersive digital landscape of large-scale screens, “transporting” guests anywhere in the world. Layered Japanese textiles harmonise with custom artwork and Samuel Heath’s fittings, which are great examples of British craftsmanship. The bathroom’s rich combinations present a starting point for a wider product range, launching a collaboration between Rigby & Rigby and Samuel Heath.
“Munder Skiles Courtyard” by Richard Miers
Aged walls with gentle patina frame a serene retreat, an outdoor room where classical structure meets contemporary craftsmanship. Custom pieces from Munder Skiles gather around a central fountain, with cream limestone underfoot and layered plantings that complete the composition. Generous enough to hold mature trees, sculptural willow planters add rhythm and texture. Here, nature and design find balance. The result is a contemplative space for gathering and reflection, where people feel connected to each other and the natural environment.
“Black Edition at Romo Speakeasy Salon” by Studio Duggan
At once intimate, theatrical and decadent, this is a salon for a modern-day torch singer. The room takes its cues from Black Edition fabrics: walls wrapped in lustrous, dark brown linen have the sheen of softened lacquer; custom plaster frieze complements the tented ceiling; generous curtains, loosely pinned back, heightening the sense of enclosure; a hidden bar concealed in “Imani” wallcovering; and wall-to-wall carpet grounding the room. “Visitors will encounter moments of delight and intrigue, reinforcing the room’s central narrative: a meeting of tradition and contemporary expression,” Duggan explained.
“The Parlour” by Martin Kemp Design
When Grace Jones is the muse, expect the unexpected. “Over the years, we have focused quietly on designing and building a strong client roster and body of work, much of which remains private”, Kemp said. “There is a natural sense of intrigue around what we do, and this room seeks to express that spirit“. Circular in plan, the Parlour encourages conversation and the free exchange of ideas in a discreet hideaway. Voluminous drapery creates depth and movement, controlling sightlines and the flow of the enveloping experience.
“Misia for Casamance Group Bedroom Suite” by Henri Fitzwilliam-Lay
This room has all the alluring glamour and optimism of Art Deco, yet it’s hard to place in any one era, rich in inspiration from travel through different times and places. The heady mix of Casamance fabrics, geometric plasterwork, carved wood, verdigris detailing, wall-to-wall carpet and modernist furniture celebrates the centenary of the Paris Expo that gave the movement its name. However, this former fashion stylist avoids pastiche, reinterpreting rather than just recreating the Deco style. She leans into the movement’s utopian aspect, its spirit of experimentation and internationalism with nods to Brazilian and Nigerian modernism, and a hint of Brutalist style. There is a real sense of expansion to the room. Escapism in its purest form: you could be anywhere, at any time.
“Ca’ Pietra Bathroom” by De Rosee Sa
Step into this Mediterranean idyll, the kind of bathroom you’d find in a perfectly aged hotel, firmly grounded with crafted architectural stonework from Ca’ Pietra, overlooking a garden, with the sea just beyond. You can almost hear the crickets, sense citrus in the air, and perhaps catch the distant sound of a motorboat on the sea. Cinematic and slightly faded from time, the sun and memory, it’s atmospheric and transportive, like so much of the work this London- and Lisbon-based husband-and-wife team brings to life.
“Zardi and Zardi Withdrawing Room” by Sean Symington Design
Park Avenue meets English country manor, creating a room for a woman who lives with her best pieces every day. The champagne coupes may be slightly chipped, the seating gracefully worn, but she knows just who she is and what she wants, which is to be surrounded by friends and family, music, fun and bubbles. Long evenings would unfold gently in Symington’s take on a Georgian withdrawing room, with a custom games table almost always at play. The scheme centres on Zardi & Zardi’s “Primavera” print, based on an archival design at Sir John Soane’s Museum, and its striking tapestry “La Belle Vie – The Dance”. Antiques, traditional upholstery, decorative details and contemporary art balance formality, frivolity and plenty of flair.
“THG Paris Powder Room” by Studio Mark Andrew
New York by day, Paris by night. Imagined for a globetrotting client who feels at home anywhere around the world, the sophisticated Powder Room is a world unto itself. “Bathrooms used to be where we unplugged, a zen space; now we’re designing technology quietly within bathrooms to make everyday rituals feel like a five-star experience“, designer Mark Partner said. “We want everything to glow, warm, or respond to your mood and voice effortlessly”. Their starting point: a sculptural tap custom-made by THG Paris, innovative, eye-catching and fit for WOW!house.
“Nucleus Immersive Room” by Russell Sage Studio
Known for blending functionality and opulent, heritage-inspired aesthetics, this studio’s astounding range of work includes five-star hotels, exclusive members’ clubs, restaurants and private houses. Here, Sage reimagines home entertainment in what he calls “the Momentarium”, which combines luxury hand craftsmanship with state-of-the-art audio-visual and lighting technology. Sage’s goal: to make memories tangible through a nuanced exchange between design, engineering and human emotion. Integrated from the outset, systems disappear visually but elevate the experience, with ceiling- and wall-mounted screens creating atmosphere.
“Schumacher Dining Room” by Max Rollitt
Specificity is key for this much-admired interior designer, furniture maker and antiques dealer who imagines a room from the 18th century “at late afternoon, with the low sun coming in through the windows and the candles lit ready for guests”. Every detail is meticulous, which is why he’s tapping into Schumacher’s archive for a luxurious terracotta damask to cover the walls, a lush silk and wool tablecloth and weighty, textural curtains. And although he’s looking backwards, don’t be fooled: Rollitt’s got technical tricks up his sleeve to achieve the “proper drama” he’s after, especially when it comes to lighting.
“Martin Moore Kitchen” with Samantha Bartlett
Rooted in the poetry of nature, the kitchen is conceived as a living environment that reflects the arc of a day. As the heart of the house, its atmosphere transitions and welcomes everyday rituals, supporting convivial evening gatherings, slow mornings and precious family time. Bartlett contemporises heritage references in a refined composition that brings together materials that will continue to patinate and evolve: tactile bronze handles, Martin Moore’s linear-grained fumed oak cabinets and exquisitely veined stone to complement soft green walls. In a graceful embrace of time passing, this is designed to be a lovely place where memories are made.
“Perennials and Sutherland Garden Terrace” by Fettle Design
Inspired by Perennials‘ latest collection, “La Dolce Vita”, the design embraces the joyful spirit of relaxed Mediterranean living, where colour, texture and craft come together in a celebration of outdoor revelry, peaceful moments and simple luxuries. Curved architectural niches create a gentle rhythm along the walls, framing moments of greenery and sculpture. A bold pattern, striking marbles and Sutherland’s outdoor furniture layer together to evoke the warmth of the seaside towns where life is for living. Lush, inviting and alive with colour, the garden terrace feels like stepping into a warm holiday afternoon.
Charity partner
WOW!house is committed to the idea that design is a force for good, so the three-year partnership with United in Design (UID) will continue through WOW!house 2026. UID was founded by interior designers Sophie Ashby and Alex Dauley to deliver an equal opportunity pathway for entry into the interior design industry for people from Black, Asian, ethnic minority and socio-economically disadvantaged backgrounds.
A portion of each WOW!house ticket and funds from the opening-night gala go towards supporting UID’s Career Pathway Programme, offering year-long internships, personalised coaching and workplace access to create opportunities for under-represented talent.
WOW!HOUSE PARTNERS
Official WOW!house partners are a key element of the connective energy bringing the showhouse to life, with every corner delighting the senses and every element enhancing the immersive experience.
- Calibre Climate. Calibre Climate brings climate control to WOW!house for the first time with aesthetically discreet, energy-efficient air conditioning solutions to keep visitors feeling at ease as they journey through the showhouse.
- Jo Malone London. Returning as the official fragrance partner for 2026, Jo Malone London collaborates with WOW!house designers to offer visitors an enriched experience through the use of layered Jo Malone London Home Fragrances.
- Benjamin Moore. Benjamin Moore returns as the WOW!house paint partner, working closely with designers to bring colour and custom finishes into every space.
- Hector Finch. For over 30 years, Hector Finch has presented thoughtfully designed decorative lighting with a pared back, simplified aesthetic, relevant for both historical and contemporary interiors. This year’s WOW!house includes the introduction of a new verdigris finish that will be rolled out globally across Hector Finch’s range of European-made sheet metal wall and hanging lanterns.
- CEDIA UK. Cedia joins as the WOW!house technology partner, connecting designers with the smart home expertise needed to bring their rooms fully to life.
- Abels. Abels supports design-led projects with white glove installations, carefully coordinated deliveries and specialist handling, ensuring each piece is placed exactly as intended and every finish is respected.
- Vispring. This leading luxury British manufacturer provides custom handcrafted beds for WOW!house 2026. Now selling to 68 countries globally, Vispring uses only the finest, natural materials, combining technical prowess with a lasting respect for traditional methods of workmanship.
The full WOW!house experience includes a programme of events, including talks and tours that expand visitors’ understanding of the designers’ processes and perspectives.
