Rodić Davidson Architects’ Chelsea mews house unites domestic life with museum-grade conservation for a treasured couture collection.

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Jim Stephenson

Rodić Davidson Architects has completed Muse House, a four-storey residence in a Chelsea mews that combines domestic occupation with the environmental control required to house a major private couture collection. Conceived as a lived-in gallery, the project explores how home and heritage can coexist under one roof.

The brief called for both high-performance conservation conditions and a calm, private residence. Rodić Davidson Architects handled the architecture, interiors, and project management, allowing the house to be designed from first principles around its dual function.

Six museum-grade display cases – each regulating light, temperature and humidity – form the spatial and conceptual centre of the house, positioned around the stair core. The garments, which include mid-20th-century and contemporary pieces by Dior, Schiaparelli, McQueen and others, are treated as objects of long-term cultural value and displayed accordingly.

Organised across split levels and topped by an operable rooflight, the plan uses circulation to create slow visual connections between living areas and display spaces. A whitewashed brick envelope with moveable bronze-anodised panels addresses the mews context, while supporting privacy, shading and environmental control.

Material finishes transition from darker tones on lower levels to lighter hues above, creating a restrained setting for both display and habitation. Passive strategies are combined with high-performance systems, including an air-source heat pump and automated ventilation and glazing, to align conservation performance with contemporary domestic standards.

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