In March, British furniture brand SCP announced plans to relocate from the Shoreditch showroom it had occupied for four decades – an unexpected, though perhaps inevitable, development. The previous month, Wallpaper* met founder Sheridan Coakley to hear about the impending move to a townhouse showroom in Clerkenwell – a significant shift not only for the company but for London’s design scene.
The new store is laid out across a five-storey London townhouse with offices and a meeting room located in an annexe in the rear courtyard
When SCP opened in a former upholstery warehouse in Shoreditch in 1985, Coakley chose the location because it was affordable and close to the manufacturers he worked with. As a retail destination, however, it was an industrial backwater. He recalls customers arriving by taxi and asking the driver to keep the meter running. Over the following four decades, the neighbourhood and its design community grew around SCP. New designers were discovered, countless pieces of furniture launched and many a party held.
Sheridan Coakley opened SCP in a former upholstery warehouse in Shoreditch in 1985
Coakley himself has remained a pivotal yet famously self-effacing figure in the industry. He began his career as an antiques dealer in Notting Hill before making his name as the man who brought Philippe Starck’s furniture to the UK. He subsequently helped launch the careers of designers including Jasper Morrison, Matthew Hilton and Konstantin Grcic. SCP feels as much like a family as a business, but its ethos is also underpinned by a longstanding commitment to British manufacturing. Its vertically integrated model includes a Norfolk upholstery factory, opened in 2003, which now specialises in sustainable materials and production methods.
The new store interior is designed by London studio Nice Projects
Coakley has never shied away from bold decisions, and the Shoreditch building – which combined the company’s offices, showroom and shop – was, he says, 'from a retail point of view', simply no longer working out.
'It’s changed,' he says of bricks-and-mortar retail. 'From a trade point of view, Clerkenwell is a much better place to be located.'
Coakley says the townhouse interior allows SCP's furniture and homeware to be displayed in a more polished domestic setting
Here on Clerkenwell Green – among the area's many other furniture showrooms – the five-storey townhouse will benefit from the existing trade footfall while continuing to welcome those who want to browse and buy in person, something that Coakley notes is otherwise lacking in the area.
'Our retail and contract businesses are much more aligned now than they used to be,' he explains. Offices and hospitality interiors increasingly have a softer, more residential character, and SCP’s new showroom has deliberately been designed to feel more like a home than a conventional contract space – an approach also embraced by Danish brand Gubi at its nearby Charterhouse Square outpost.
Coakley says Clerkenwell’s concentration of furniture showrooms was central to the choice of location
Although its facade resembles a Victorian terrace, Coakley tells us the building was actually constructed in the 1980s. It also comes with a useful annexe, which SCP are using as an events and office space. The interior design is by Simone McEwan and Sacha Leong of Nice Projects – the studio behind 40 Duke, Selfridges' private shopping destination, which opened earlier this year.
At the shop's smart tobacco-brown entrance, a large window draws passers-by inside, where they will find accessories and gifts displayed in a space finished with finger-block parquet flooring. The basement hosts the lighting department while the other three floors are dedicated to furniture, arranged in distinct room sets divided by shelving and curtains. The top floor, known as the Apartment, is staged as a private residence rather than a conventional showroom.
Customers will find accessories and small furniture the ground floor, a dedicated lighting department on the lower ground floor and showroom spaces on the floors above
The result is decidedly more polished than the previous store, with carefully considered materials and finishes, warm colours, soft lighting and an intentionally residential feel. 'I hope it's not too fashionable,' Coakley laughs. 'We haven't gone for a completely minimalist look.'
The annexe, which was formerly a metalworking workshop, sits in a courtyard at the rear of the building. Its ground floor serves as a meeting space with a materials and samples library, while a kitchen by Very Simple Kitchen – an Italian brand which SCP is launching in the UK during London Design Festival 2026 – is separated by a glass wall. SCP's offices are located upstairs on the first and second floors.
The new space includes a courtyard where London brand Shore Studios will display outdoor furniture during London Design Festival
For this month's opening, which happily coincides with London Design Festival, the store is hosting a showcase of vases designed by Martino Gamper for Italian manufacturer Bitossi Ceramiche, alongside furniture by Swedish brand Källemo and lighting by Blue Green Works. Outdoor furniture by London-based woven-textile brand Shore Studios will be displayed in the courtyard.
Ever the pragmatist, Coakley is cautiously optimistic about the move. 'I feel less emotional about it than I did to begin with,' he admits. 'I was very resistant in my head initially because I thought [the move] would be looked upon as a negative thing. But actually, as a project, I'm very excited about it – this is the part I like.'
SCP, 16 Clerkenwell Green, London, EC1R 0QT