Amsterdam-based design studio Nicemakers make their UK debut with The Eades, a landmark new residential project redefining rental living in Walthamstow. Comprising nearly 500 apartments and 25,000 square feet of communal spaces, the development is a statement on what urban dwelling can feel like when design, wellbeing and community are in sync.
Managed by Way of Life, The Eades borrows more from the hospitality world than traditional property management. Its series of lifestyle spaces — lobby, co-working, gym, yoga studio, treatment rooms, residents’ kitchen, and roof terrace — spanning the first two floors and the 33rd, making The Eades feel part home, part hotel.
Commissioned to design, these shared spaces see Nicemakers drawing inspiration from the neighbourhood’s textures, translating Walthamstow’s architectural language and social energy into a cohesive design story. Guided by The Life Wheel — a framework used to explore harmony between nature, creativity, socialising, and self-care — the studio used this as a touchstone for both design and experience, taking a human-centred approach to create spaces that feel intuitive, balanced and attuned to modern-day living.
“We drew inspiration from both physical and emotional sources, the architecture, the nearby wetlands, and the legacy of Walthamstow’s own William Morris, alongside the spirit and energy of the local community,” explains Lotti Lorenzetti, head of design at Nicemakers. “We wanted the design and the overall experience to feel natural rather than imposed, shaped by how people live, connect and belong.”
That philosophy is prevalent the project’s ground floor lobby, a space that sets the tone with a sculptural spiral staircase in antique brass and walnut. The mood is one of understated grandeur with botanical hues, floral-upholstered armchairs from Love Your Home, bespoke seating by Nicemakers, and rugs developed with London studio Floor Story.
Upstairs, the first floor unfolds into a series of co-working, wellness, and lounge zones that evoke the sensibility of a boutique members’ club. In the co-working area, burnt-orange chairs and green glassbrick partitions lend warmth to the practical. A central kitchen doubles as workspace and event hub, while soft lighting and layered materials blur the boundary between productivity and leisure. Nearby, a yoga studio offers sanctuary, while the gym brings Technogym machines to those that way inclined.
The 33rd floor is where things open up, literally. A double-height residents’ kitchen and dining space overlook the city, wrapped in deep-blue velvet, hand-carved timber, and paper-pulp pendant lights from Palefire Studio. The semi-enclosed terrace features a leafy, lantern-lit vantage point for late-night gatherings.
With The Eades, Nicemakers and Way of Life have created a new model for what rental living can aspire to, less transient, more transformative. It’s a project that reimagines the idea of home as a living, breathing ecosystem of wellbeing, creativity and community, proof that when design thinks like a human, the results speak like art.
@theeades.walthamstow
@nicemakers
@wayoflifeuk
The Eades Walthamstow Photography, Chantal Arnts.
