A two-bedroom flat once reserved for visiting dignitaries at Chelsea College of Arts has been converted into a showcase of more than 100 design elements and artworks, created by students and graduates of University of the Arts London.

The Atterbury Flat, set in a corner of the college's courtyard, previously served as bland overnight accommodation. Creative director Zoë Tynan-Campbell describes its former style as "Office Depot meets IKEA". Now every object, from door handles to furniture, is a designed piece — and visitors are encouraged to touch and use them. During London Design Festival 2026, the flat doubles as an exhibition space.

Tynan-Campbell, a UAL lecturer who conceived and designed the project and delivered it in collaboration with UAL graduates Abigail Rigby and Bhairavi Yogasivam, deliberately rejected the conventions of a gallery display. "We intentionally didn't do name plates (next to each object), because it's a domestic space, it's not red ropes and white gloves," she says.

The commissioning model sits at the heart of the project. "Students and graduates need commissions, so this project will be successful if it creates opportunities for them," Tynan-Campbell says.

The works range across disciplines. In the small kitchen sits Geometric Dining Set by Haonan Yu and Zixi Zhu, graduates of the MA Designer Maker course. The CNC-cut plywood table and chairs, with rounded corners, explore the relationship between geometrical structure and natural materials, according to the designers.

Jacob Walls, an MA Design: Ceramics, Furniture, Jewellery graduate, takes the opposite approach with his Hollow(core) Bench, embracing asymmetry and imperfection. The bench is heat-sensitive: it changes colour when the temperature shifts, for instance when someone sits on it. Walls did not design the bench's shape. Instead he used reclaimed factory waste foam, letting the material's own form and structure dictate the result.

In the second bedroom, Songsheng Jiang, also an MA Designer Maker graduate, prioritises structure and stability over freeform fluidity. His clothes rail, Scaffolding Belonging, is built from pale wooden poles of different sizes, reinforced with metal clasps. For Jiang, it is not only sentimental objects that can offer a sense of belonging — supportive structures can too.

Displayed alongside it are Easy Hang hangers by Shannyce Adamson, a Design for Art Direction student. The beech-wood hangers fold flat to prevent damage to clothes and offer a sustainable alternative to plastic.

Norah Marie Hinsch, a Product and Furniture Design student, scattered her Millbank Handles throughout the flat. The tactile door handles are crafted from locally sourced London plane wood and strengthened internally with stainless steel. Their design draws on the Arts and Crafts architecture around the college and the nearby Millbank estate.

The flat will not remain static. Tynan-Campbell says future pieces will be added as the space evolves, and she is "looking for other spaces around the college" to transform in the same way — positioning the Atterbury Flat as the first node in a broader commissioning programme for UAL students and graduates.