London has never been short of grand addresses, but few new arrivals make quite such an entrance as RH London. Set within the historic Uxbridge House, opposite the Royal Academy of Arts, the American design house’s first London flagship reimagines the traditional furniture showroom as an immersive destination where architecture, art, interiors and hospitality converge.
Spanning nearly 54,000 square feet across five levels, the gallery occupies a Palladian mansion designed in 1721 by Italian architect Giacomo Leoni for the Earl of Darnley. Its transformation, undertaken in collaboration with Foster + Partners, preserves the building’s historic character while introducing a distinctly contemporary vision of residential grandeur.
The experience begins beneath a Roman Doric portico, leading into the Architecture & Design Library, where white-oak herringbone floors and museum-like displays establish the tone. A rare 1521 edition of Vitruvius’s De Architectura serves as a fitting centrepiece, signalling the project’s reverence for the foundations of classical design.
Yet RH London is as much about the art of living as it is about furniture. At The Treasury, a former banking hall has become a dramatic restaurant framed by towering Roman columns, a gold-leaf coffered ceiling and cascading Venetian glass chandeliers. Its menu revisits British classics, from rib roast to fish and chips, alongside lavish seafood presentations.
Elsewhere, the original 18th-century ceilings of the Piano Nobile lend the first-floor state rooms a sense of aristocratic continuity. Higher up, The Perch offers a more intimate, atmospheric counterpoint. Conceived by designer Anouska Hempel, the space combines smoked glass, blackened decorative walls and dark marble with a garden terrace featuring sculptural birdcages inspired by Ottoman architecture.
The upper floors continue the dialogue between nature and design. RH Outdoor unfolds beneath an expansive glass skylight, among fountains, mature greenery and open fireplaces, while the World of RH Lounge introduces a striking holographic installation.
The result is not simply a retail address, but an elaborate study in how luxury spaces can shape an experience. With its opening, RH joins Mayfair’s established constellation of prestigious names with a proposition that is unapologetically theatrical: a place to discover, dine, linger and imagine a more considered way of living.
In a city that understands the power of a memorable address, RH London makes one thing clear: the future of luxury interiors lies as much in the experience as in the objects themselves.
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