Our Story
Marsham Studio was founded by Tom Cottrell — an interior designer and interior architect with over fifteen years of experience delivering luxury residential, hospitality, and commercial projects across the UK and internationally.
The studio is named after Marsham Lane — where Tom and his wife bought their first home, had their two children, and built those early family memories. It felt like the right foundation for a practice built around how people really live.
Our Founders Story
by tom Cottrell
Tom came to design through construction — not the other way around. Before he ever specified a finish or drew a furniture layout, Tom understood how buildings go together: the structure, the programme, the trades, the pressure of a live site.
That experience never left. It sits underneath everything he designs. It means he thinks about how a detail will be built while still sketching it. It means I don't over-specify for the sake of it or push complexity where simplicity works better. And it means clients get spaces that are genuinely refined — not because every surface is expensive, but because every decision has been thought through. I've never been interested in design that demands attention. The spaces I'm most proud of are the ones where people feel completely at ease without being able to explain exactly why.
OUR Approach
Every project starts at the end. We begin with how you want to feel in a space, the frustrations you have with how things work now, and the reality of your day-to-day life. Then we work backwards — designing around those needs, not around a predetermined aesthetic.
We assemble the right team for each project. That might be architects, landscape designers, specialist contractors, or fellow designers — selected to suit the brief, the budget, the location, and the client. No two project teams look the same, because no two projects are.
This keeps us agile, it keeps costs honest, and it means every person on a project is there because they’re the right fit — not because they’re on the payroll.