For today’s globally mobile, the question is no longer where to live but how. A home that runs seamlessly in your absence, with staff on hand, security as standard and amenities on your doorstep, is the new measure of luxury. Behind a Whitehall façade once closed to the public for over a century, The OWO Residences by Raffles answers that brief with quiet authority.
Completed in 1906 to a design by William Young, the Old War Office on Whitehall is one of the most architecturally significant buildings in London. Behind its Edwardian baroque facade, the corridors of power once turned: Winston Churchill, John Profumo and T.E.Lawrence (of Lawrence of Arabia fame) all held office here, and Ian Fleming – then a Naval Intelligence officer – is said to have drawn inspiration for James Bond from the figures who passed through its 1,100 rooms. For more than a hundred years, the public was kept firmly outside.
In 2023, after an eight-year, US$1.6 billion restoration overseen by the Hinduja Group, that changed. The Grade II* listed building reopened as The OWO: home to London’s first Raffles hotel and, set behind their own private entrance, 85 Raffles-branded residences. The transformation called on a roster of names rarely assembled in one project – 1508 London on the residences, the late Thierry Despont on the hotel interiors, EPR Architects on the architecture, Marcus Barnett on the gardens. The result is a building that has been returned to the city without losing the gravitas of what it once was.
If the building is the canvas, the Penthouse is its quiet masterpiece. Spanning the entire width of the top floor, the 7,731 sq ft, five-bedroom lateral residence was conceived by Winch Design – the studio better known for superyachts and private aircraft for ultra-high-net-worth clients. The brief was singular: a residence that felt curated over generations, rather than installed in a single season. More than forty British makers and artisans contributed. Three terraces wrap the apartment, totalling almost 4,000 sq ft of outdoor space, with uninterrupted views across St James’s Park, toward Buckingham Palace, along the rooftops to the London Eye and the Thames beyond. Inside are five bedrooms, large reception spaces, a private study, gym and sauna, a media room, and staff quarters. The design draws on Savile Row tailoring, traditional British craftsmanship and the building’s own storied past.
It is, by design, almost impossible to see. Photography of the interiors is strictly limited and viewings are by private introduction only. For those who have stood in it, the silence on the terraces – held above the city by Edwardian stone – is the detail that lingers.
A separate three-bedroom show apartment, completed by Cotswold-based design house Sims Hilditch, takes a quieter approach. Long associated with grand Georgian rectories and English country estates, the studio’s first London project of this scale was a considered exercise in translation: how to bring the calm of the countryside into a Grade II* listed Whitehall building without losing either. Studio Director Gemma Holsgrove describes the intention as “a space that feels welcoming and liveable – a home where you can imagine unwinding at the end of a long day in the city.”
The result is a 2,630 sq ft lateral residence in a soft palette of sage, cream, berry red and blush pink, with hand-framed Picasso line drawings, antique pieces sourced from 1stDibs, bespoke cabinetry and a study in deeper raspberry tones for intimacy. It is offered turnkey at £14.5 million. A further show residence by another of Britain’s most highly regarded design studios is unveiled this summer – its identity, for now, held close.
“A space that feels welcoming and liveable – a home where you can imagine unwinding at the end of a long day in the city.”
Gemma Holsgrove, Studio Director at Sims Hilditch
Beyond the front door of each residence lies what is, in effect, a private members’ club for the eighty-five homeowners who’ll live here: 30,000 sq ft of amenity reserved exclusively for residents, along with a landscaped private garden by Marcus Barnett, 24-hour concierge and security, valet parking and secure underground storage.
Residents also hold the keys, quite literally, to the wider building. Across four floors and 27,000 sq ft sits the Guerlain Spa and Pillar Wellbeing – the first Guerlain spa in London, designed by Goddard Littlefair – with treatment suites, gym, movement studio, steam, sauna and lounging spaces. There are three bars and, with the long-awaited arrival of Milanese seafood institution Langosteria this summer, nine restaurants under one roof, including three by three-Michelin-starred chef Mauro Colagreco.
All images: The OWO Residences by Raffles
