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Showcasing the work of Jess Murphy and Josie de Guzman, cofounders of Studio Jey.

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Words By Emily Martin

Who Meet Jess Murphy, co-founder and interior designer, and Josie de Guzman, co-founder and interior designer, of Studio Jey, an emerging interior design and styling studio working across hospitality, retail and residential projects, based in East London. With a combined experience of 20 years across architecture, interiors, installations, set design and styling, the studio designs considered spaces with a sculptural approach to form, materiality and craftsmanship. The studio offers a holistic design service, including interior design, custom furniture design, furniture and art curation, styling and visual merchandising. They say: ‘We are both originally from Wellington, New Zealand, but despite having mutual friends, we didn’t properly meet until we were both living in London working in design. We have a similar aesthetic and approach to design, and are inspired by the intersection of set design, spatial design and interiors, so quite naturally started collaborating on our own freelance projects.’

Why The duo set up the studio in summer 2022. Murphy and de Guzman say: ‘The first project we worked on together was a retail space for The Fall, in an industrial factory building in Hackney Wick, which opened in December 2019. We were working with a very lean budget on this project…We made inexpensive custom display plinths with blocks of aerated concrete, topped with brushed steel sheet, and a custom daybed – our first foray into designing site-specific furniture (something we still love to do).’ The duo have plenty of work lined up across residential and commercial projects, including larger-scale projects. ‘Looking ahead to 2024, we design a lot of custom furniture for our projects and are looking forward to hopefully making this available to a wider audience.’

Where studio-jey.co  instagram.com /studiojey__

The Fall:

Image Credit: Charlie Mckay

Studio Jey was tasked with designing a new, larger retail space for The Fall, while maintaining the existing design language that has become synonymous with the brand. Materiality was a key source of inspiration with Studio Jey introducing a material palette to complement and contrast the raw, industrial features of the space. It features bespoke aluminium furniture and retail consoles, along with scaffolding display rails that complement exposed pipework in the ceiling and an industrial raised access floor. Hand-textured clay plaster and lime wash wall finishes, and off-white curtaining add a heavy dose of calm.

Clapton Craft Depot:

Image Credit: Charlie Mckay

Studio Jey was tasked with designing the East London HQ for Clapton Craft, a craft beer and wine retailer with stores across London. The space includes a bar and back bar with 11 taps, with a changing offering serviced from a small cold room behind. Opposite, another large cold room visible to customers gives a glimpse into back-of-house functions and the abundance of product. The fridges and shelving were custom designs in welded steel, left raw, leaning into the industrial charm of the site itself, with freshly stripped back ceiling and structural columns.

Brooksby’s Walk Kitchen:

Image Credit: Charlie Mckay

A kitchen renovation in a Victorian terrace in East London, home to two photographers and their growing family, the original L-shaped layout was spatially inefficient with both the kitchen and the dining table/seating area offering limited storage space for busy family life. The duo explain: ‘Having explored both subtle and bold layout changes, we decided to reorientate the kitchen on the opposite side of the room, creating space around a large window overlooking the back garden.’ The kitchen whiteware was integrated at low level, allowing for a more open, considered space.