Clapham: Millie and Maisie Nursery

Millie and Maisie is a nursery in Clapham, and the brief from the client was clear from the start: the tiled surfaces throughout the space should contribute to a sensory experience for the children using it. Tile was chosen intentionally over paint or wallpaper across multiple areas of the nursery precisely because of what it offers to young children at close range
varied texture, reflective surfaces, pattern and colour that holds its quality over time and survives the kind of contact that a nursery environment produces every day.
The wall scheme uses crackle-glazed white metro tiles, a tile with a deliberately imperfect surface where fine crazing across the glaze creates a texture that catches the light and varies subtly across the wall. A horizontal band of teal glazed tiles runs across the mid-section of the walls, adding a contrasting colour at exactly the height where children are most likely to see and touch it.

The counter front is the most technically involved element of the project. It was tiled entirely in small-format mosaic, with the nursery name, Millie and Maisie, spelled out in dark mosaic tiles within a framed border on a white mosaic ground. The lettering was set out by hand on site, with the team working at floor level to position and align every tile in the name before the panel was fixed. The process images show exactly how that work was done.
The project ran across three weeks and covered multiple areas of the nursery. It is a different kind of project to a bathroom or a kitchen, and it required a different kind of thinking. The materials had to work for small hands and curious eyes as much as for the adults responsible for the space. We are proud of what was made here and glad the brief gave us room to do something that is genuinely fun as well as genuinely well-made.