There’s an unmistakable English sensibility when it comes to Cyril Mansions, an 1895 apartment building overlooking Battersea Park in Southwest London. Carrara marble detailing , thick carpeting, and intricate moldings and wallpaper can be found in the lobby, a style that seeps into the surrounding flats. “Many people who live here have for long time,” says architect Irene Astrain , director of Astrain Studio Architects. While initially built as middle-class residences, tall and fortress-like in appearance, more than a century later Cyril Mansions has become quite a prestigious place to live.

Irene first got involved with the renovation of a one-bedroom flat in the mansion block when a friend was looking for an architect to work with his godmother, a businesswoman who comes into London for her job a few days each month. She already had a home an hour’s drive from the city but desired a chic, highly organized holiday flat with plenty of natural light. However, the unit she purchased needed a major revival.

BEFORE: The bedroom was cramped and lacked a clear vision.

AFTER: The bedroom is overall calming and neutral but does include a bright blanket from Hauser and Wirth that was woven in Hawick, Scotland.

First up was swapping the location of the bathroom with the dining room. “When you walked in, the bathroom was the first thing you saw, while the dining space occupied the darkest bit of the plan,” Irene says.