Clerkenwell calling

A warehouse flat in one of east London’s hottest spots has been sensitively designed around its existing fabric

- Juliet Benning

THE OWNERS

Jen Long, who works in tech, and Mike Zhang, who works in finance. The couple previously rented separate flats – Mike in Russell Square and Jen in Caledonian Road – before renting a flat in a building next door together. This is the first home they have bought together.

THE PROPERTY

A flat on the second floor of a five-storey warehouse building in Clerkenwell. The front door opens into a library-hallway space. There is a main bedroom with dressing room and en-suite bathroom, a second bedroom, used as a gym and home office, a pantry and main bathroom. The rest of the space is open-plan and contains the kitchen, dining and lounge areas.

When Jen Long and Mike Zhang’s Clerkenwell flat first came on the market it didn’t want for admirers. A rare example of an almost entirely untouched warehouse flat, its lack of walls, plaster or modernisation gave it a raw appeal. ‘The seller had accepted another offer but the buyer’s chain broke down, meaning our offer was later accepted. We were given a strict timeline so we had a mad dash to get everything lined up in time for the sale,’ Mike recalls. The couple had been searching all over London for many months before striking gold. ‘Clerkenwell is extremely convenient for us. We both work in central London but our friends are mostly east so this location bridges the two,’ Mike explains.