Narthex
Opening the doors00%
Ostrum Hall today: a long barrel-vaulted room with a sofa, a floor lamp and blue dusk in the windows

Eight centuries
in one room

Narthex is an interior studio for old buildings. We repair what is there, add only what is needed, and give the rooms back to everyday life.

Follow the storyFollow the story
Start a projectStart a project
The great hall in 1186, with a fire, candles and a long trestle table

Ostrum Hall

A refectory in 1186. A family home since 2025.

0
0

Years between the first stone and the last coat of lime.

Thisisthestoryofoneroom.Ithasbeenarefectoryagranaryandaruin.Sincelastspringithasbeenakitchenalibraryandatableforforty.
Thisisthestoryofoneroom.Ithasbeenarefectoryagranaryandaruin.Sincelastspringithasbeenakitchenalibraryandatableforforty.
Thisisthestoryofoneroom.Ithasbeenarefectoryagranaryandaruin.Sincelastspringithasbeenakitchenalibraryandatableforforty.

We were asked to make it a home without making it look new. Scroll on for what the walls told us, chapter by chapter.

Raised in limestone
Glass for the east wall
The bells stop
A survey and a scaffold
Lived in again
Raised in limestone
Masons cut the vault from the hill behind it. One fire, one long table, forty monks eating in silence. Their marks are still on every third stone.
1186
1311
1537
2021
2025
Raised in limestone
Glass for the east wall
The bells stop
A survey and a scaffold
Lived in again
Raised in limestone
Masons cut the vault from the hill behind it. One fire, one long table, forty monks eating in silence. Their marks are still on every third stone.
1186
1311
1537
2021
2025
Raised in limestone
Glass for the east wall
The bells stop
A survey and a scaffold
Lived in again
Raised in limestone
Masons cut the vault from the hill behind it. One fire, one long table, forty monks eating in silence. Their marks are still on every third stone.
1186
1311
1537
2021
2025

How we work on old buildings

Five services, usually in this order. Most buildings need all five. A few only need the first.

Survey and history
01Survey and history4–8 weeks

We measure, photograph and read the archive before proposing anything. You get drawings of the building as it stands and a short account of how it got that way.

Wedon'tmakeoldroomslooknew.Wemakethemwarmquietandlivedinagain.
Wedon'tmakeoldroomslooknew.Wemakethemwarmquietandlivedinagain.
Wedon'tmakeoldroomslooknew.Wemakethemwarmquietandlivedinagain.

Other rooms we’ve given back

Chapels, undercrofts and tithe barns. Each one started with a survey and ended with someone living in it.

Lancet House, 2024 Undercroft Cellar, 2023 Aumbry Kitchen, 2022 Transept Library, 2021 Chancel Studio, 2019

See all workSee all work
LimestoneOakLimeLeadWoolIronLimestoneOakLimeLeadWoolIronLimestoneOakLimeLeadWoolIron
LimestoneOakLimeLeadWoolIronLimestoneOakLimeLeadWoolIronLimestoneOakLimeLeadWoolIron
LimestoneOakLimeLeadWoolIronLimestoneOakLimeLeadWoolIronLimestoneOakLimeLeadWoolIron

A small studio for very old rooms

Twelve of us: two architects, a building historian, three conservators and a lighting designer, plus the joiners, smiths and weavers we have worked with for years. We take on four buildings a year so each one gets the whole team.

0
0

Historic buildings since 2009

0
0

People in the studio

0
0

Buildings a year, no more

Meet the studioMeet the studio

Bring us your old building

Tell us where it is and what it used to be. We reply within a week, usually with questions.

Book a surveyBook a survey

hello@narthex.studio

Site visits Tuesday to Friday

Bring us your old building

Tell us where it is and what it used to be. We reply within a week, usually with questions.

Book a surveyBook a survey

hello@narthex.studio

Site visits Tuesday to Friday

Bring us your old building

Tell us where it is and what it used to be. We reply within a week, usually with questions.

Book a surveyBook a survey

hello@narthex.studio

Site visits Tuesday to Friday

Create a free website with Framer, the website builder loved by startups, designers and agencies.