Sharps Pixley

Established in 1957, Sharps Pixley supplies gold and silver bullion and is situated in an unlisted building of merit within the St James’s Conservation Area in central London. The business occupies the ground and basement floors of the building. We had previously completed a historically significant project in St James’s Square, near to Sharps Pixley, and, aware of this, they approached us to work with them. Their initial brief was to refurbish the shop frontage, ground floor and basement, which holds a series of highly secure vaults.

The clients wanted to modernise the interiors and redefine their brand identity to encourage new clients, and so we developed a series of visuals to illustrate the project’s potential, both for maximising staff usage and improving client-facing areas. Our concepts were driven by the exclusive reputation of a precious metal dealer, with subtle detailing from bespoke joinery, furniture design and fixtures and finishes. St James’s Street has several fine traditional shop fronts, some of which originate from the 18th century, and these helped influence the design.

The client has been heavily involved in the design and construction stages to ensure the intended use of the site meets the brief. We helped guide them through a restrictive planning process to alter the front entrance and create signage to suit the surrounding area. The Ritz Hotel and its service access are directly behind the building and the logistics of pavement/road closures had to be carefully planned. We also worked closely with the team at Sharps Pixley to design bespoke display cabinets, featuring leather linings and architectural meshes.

High security systems and CCTV have been installed and upgraded. The ground floor and basement refurbishment includes full replacement of Mechanical and Electrical services (M&E), new energy efficient LED lighting and mechanical heating/cooling and ventilation.