The transformation of London’s historic Whiteley building reaches new heights with Maoliosa Murray‘s latest creation: a spectacular duplex apartment priced at £8.95 million. The Irish interior designer has crafted something extraordinary within this Grade II listed landmark on Queensway, where William Whiteley’s pioneering department store once stood.
From Department Store To Design Canvas
Foster + Partners’ architectural reimagining of The Whiteley has created one of London’s most compelling residential destinations. Murray‘s duplex spans 2,756 square feet across two levels, with soaring six-metre ceilings and dramatic lead-arch windows that define the space.
The designer’s personal connection runs deep. “I have fond memories of visiting The Whiteley as a department store, so designing a home here feels like a full-circle moment,” Murray explains. “For me, true luxury is subtle and experiential , it lies in texture, simplicity, and the way a space makes you feel. By combining the finest materials, carefully curated art, and seamlessly integrated, hidden technology, the apartment is designed to engage the senses from the very moment you step inside.”
Two decades of international experience inform every decision. Murray‘s childhood memories of her mother’s ceramics gallery in Kensington permeate the apartment’s conception, creating what she describes as a celebration of craft, materiality and artistic expression.
A Sophisticated Material Dialogue
Images: Julian Abrams
The two-bedroom residence speaks in a refined vocabulary of onyx, tobacco and porcelain white. Bronze and silk accents introduce warmth, while chocolate and coffee tones create deliberate contrast against lighter elements. This isn’t decoration, it’s curation.
Art weaves through the interiors as a unifying thread. Working with Cadogan Gallery, Murray has assembled pieces by Richard Zinon, Leonardo Anker Vandal and contemporary Irish artist Felim Egan. The collection’s centrepiece: a monumental canvas by Jans Cools, commissioned exclusively for the apartment and positioned dramatically above the staircase.
Images: Julian Abrams
