Reclaiming Style: Using Salvaged Materials to Create an Elegant Home

Adam Hills and Maria Speake, the partners behind architectural salvage and design business Retrouvius, combine their salvage work with one of the most sought-after interior design practices in Britain.

In this, their first book, Maria and Adam give an insight into the world of Retrouvius and the interiors they create. The book goes behind the salvage scenes, from the demolition site to the warehouse to the process of designing with reclaimed materials. Charted over twelve locations, ranging from a 17th-century priory to a converted barn to a 1970s high-rise apartment, Reclaiming Style shows how, how, in clever hands, what looks like trash can be transformed into modern-day interiors treasure. The company’s unique style goes far beyond a mere commitment to salvage and sustainable design and offers an inspiring new vision for sophisticated, thoughtfully constructed living spaces.

Maria Speake and Adam Hills met while studying architecture in Glasgow, Scotland. They moved to London in 1997 and opened the Retrouvius warehouse on a dilapidated stretch of the Harrow Road. Lovers of salvaged materials soon began to beat a path to their door, and this led to the establishment of their design practice, which refurbishes domestic interiors using salvaged materials to entirely unique effect.