Atelier LK is an internationally active interior architecture studio with offices in London and New York, founded in 2020 by Lisa Jones and Ruby Kean. Their context-driven approach brings together interior architecture, architecture, art curation, bespoke furniture design and creative direction. In conversation with Chapter, Atelier LK discuss the questions they ask at the beginning of a project and the role art, atmosphere and restraint play in their spatial design processes.
Chapter Starting a new project, what excites you most about the work ahead?
Atelier LK Taking a client’s brief and translating it into a vision that is entirely unique to them is what excites us most. The process is deeply human—about understanding who they are, how they live, and what they value, and designing from that place. When the client is truly at the heart of the work, the finished space allows them to see themselves reflected in it. That sense of recognition is what drives the work and makes it so rewarding.
Renovation in East London: Architecture and interior design concept for a two-story house
with two bedrooms for actress Olivia Cooke
Chapter What kind of questions do you ask yourselves at the beginning of a project that are not necessarily visible in the final result?
Atelier LK From the outset, we ask how to be truly sensitive to the site, historically, geographically, and culturally. That sensitivity often is visible in the final work, through a sense of integrity and restraint. Alongside that are quieter questions that sit beneath the surface—how a space can resist trends, how it can feel relevant now, and still be something that holds up over time. These questions shape decisions long before anything tangible appears.
Chapter How do you determine when a space truly needs intervention, and when it benefits more from restraint or subtraction?
Atelier LK This balance is one of the most important aspects of any project, and we find it can only be determined through time. Time to understand the space, to sit with it, and to allow initial ideas to evolve rather than arrive all at once. Through that process, it becomes clearer what should remain, what needs to be modified, what can be removed, or what must be added. Often a space holds details or historical qualities that deserve preservation and at other times, those same qualities are better reinterpreted. We are currently working on two significant historic homes, one carrying the legacy and integrity of an artist who lived there, and another that is a mid-century gem with characteristics inherent to its original construction. Both projects have required patience and restraint, learning what to hold on to, what to let go of, and how to introduce something new without disrupting the integrity of what was already there.
Chapter What sources outside of architecture or design currently influence your thinking, and how do they quietly enter your work?
Atelier LK Art, music, travel are constant reference points. They influence mood, and we can be inspired by these external factors that might help inform how we want the light to fall in a room, how we want materials to age…the references are rarely literal, but they help shape spaces that feel considered and carry a certain atmosphere.
Chapter What role does art play within your practice, both conceptually and in the spaces you create?
Atelier LK Art plays an integral role in our work. We approach spaces as highly site-specific, often designing or commissioning furniture and artwork in direct response to the architecture. We want clients to live with pieces that carry narrative, works created by artists or designers whose sensibilities resonate with them and with the space itself. Sometimes art leads a project, setting the tone for everything that follows—the direction, palette, and mood of a space. At other times, it arrives at the end, completing the space or introducing just enough disruption to give it soul. Equally, the absence of art can be intentional. Conceptually, the space itself can function as art, and restraint can be just as powerful as a room full of artworks. [DM]
