Before and After: A Premium Shop Fit-Out at 29 Monmouth Street, London
- Jul 2
- 6 min read
Project Case Study · Retail & Beauty Fit-Out
A unit that traded as an apothecary for 25 years, reimagined as the Code 8 Beauty flagship. Inside the Cat B retail fit-out delivered end to end by Mayfair Interiors, from strip-out to a trading-standard interior.
Quick Answer
Mayfair Interiors delivered the full Cat B retail fit-out of the Code 8 Beauty flagship at 29 Monmouth Street, London, an 800 sq ft store across ground floor and basement. The scope ran from strip-out and first fix through to a completed, trading-standard interior: a layered Barrisol style stretch ceiling over the consultation bar, bespoke walnut veneer shelving with integrated LED, travertine counters and bar cladding, a DALI lighting control system, polished plaster walls and full basement refurbishment. Completed for the store's May 2026 opening.
The handover of a piece of Monmouth Street history. The unit had traded as a Kiehl's apothecary for The heritage shopfront was retained and refreshed. Everything visible through the open door, and eve
The handover of a piece of Monmouth Street history. The unit had traded as a Kiehl's apothecary for a quarter of a century. Behind the Code 8 Beauty hoarding, Mayfair Interiors was building the brand's new London flagship.
Some retail units carry their history in the fabric. This one had served the same corner of Monmouth Street, London as an apothecary for 25 years, its original tiling and shelving long since bedded into the space. When Code 8 Beauty took the lease on the 800 sq ft store, the brief to Mayfair Interiors was clear: strip it back, and build a flagship whose every surface reflects the brand from the moment a customer steps through the door.
This is the full before and after. A retail fit-out managed end to end by one team, from an inherited shell to a trading-standard interior, delivered to a fixed May opening. It sits alongside similar work we have delivered across Mayfair, Chelsea, Soho and the wider West End.
Project at a glance
Project | Code 8 Beauty flagship |
Location | 29 Monmouth Street, London, WC2H 9DA |
Type | Cat B retail fit-out |
Size | Approx. 800 sq ft, ground floor and basement |
Scope | Strip-out to trading standard, full turnkey |
Hero feature | Barrisol style stretch ceiling over the bar |
Contractor | Mayfair Interiors (Principal Contractor) |
Completion | May 2026 opening |
Before:
the inherited space
The starting point was a tired, compartmentalised retail unit with a separate basement of back-of-house rooms: a dated staff kitchenette, a wallpapered store room, a strong room, and a warren of partitions. Serviceable, but a long way from a beauty flagship.
Stripping it all back One of the inherited basement rooms before works began. Cork flooring, papered walls and legacy shel Another of the inherited store rooms, with legacy fixtures and worn flooring, awaiting strip-out.
Working in this part of Central London brings its own constraints: restricted access, a live and busy street frontage, neighbouring tenants a few feet away, and the sensitivities that come with a period building. Mayfair Interiors managed the site as Principal Contractor throughout, handling logistics, health and safety and landlord liaison alongside the build itself.
Strip-out and first fix
Everything non-structural came out. Old linings, redundant services and legacy joinery were stripped back to reveal the true envelope of the space, ground floor and basement both taken back to substrate.
Back to the bones. Strip-out exposes the original structure and lets the new services, partitions an First fix underway. Power, data, lighting circuits and ventilation are all run and tested now, befor
First fix is the quiet, decisive stage of any fit-out. Get the M&E, the ceiling build and the setting-out right here, and the finishes fall into place. Rush it, and every later trade pays for it. This is where the Barrisol ceiling cavity, the shelf lighting and the DALI control wiring were all prepared.
Building the bar
The consultation bar started life as a plywood carcass, built and levelled before any of the stone or cladding went anywhere near it.
The Mayfair Interiors team on site at the bar, mid fit-out. A working basement, long before it looke A Mayfair Interiors joiner at the bar counter, finishing the carcass that the travertine cladding wo A later view of the same bar carcass, cornice profile now complete overhead and the joinery squared
Joinery, shelving and the new floor
The retail concept is built around full-height bespoke shelving in a high-quality walnut veneer, recessed into the walls with integrated LED to each shelf. The joinery team and polishers built these units in sequence with the ceiling and floor works.
Built-in shelving units and skirting details being completed in walnut veneer, with cabling still li Built-in shelving units and skirting details being completed in walnut veneer, with cabling still li
The hero feature: a Barrisol style stretch ceiling
The defining lighting moment sits over the consultation bar, the point in the customer journey where colour accuracy is a commercial necessity rather than a nicety. Mayfair Interiors built a layered, geometric Barrisol style stretch ceiling: a dense LED matrix concealed behind a tensioned translucent membrane, framed by a stepped plaster profile that hides the perimeter track entirely.
The bar joinery protected below while the ceiling feature is commissioned above. The effect from the Mid-installation. The membrane is partly fitted, with the coloured commissioning lighting along the The membrane being heat-stretched into its perimeter track over the concealed LED matrix. As it cool
In a makeup flagship, lighting is not decoration. It is a commercial decision. A bar where a customer tries a foundation under the wrong colour temperature is a bar that loses sales.
The whole scheme runs on a DALI control system, allowing precise dimming, tunable scenes and energy-efficient management across recessed fixtures, linear profiles and shelf-integrated illumination. If you want the detail on how these ceilings are specified and installed, we cover it in full in our guide to backlit Barrisol style stretch ceilings.
After:
the finished flagship
The completed interior brings walnut, travertine, polished plaster and metalwork together into a single, calm, luxurious retail environment. Every material was chosen to hold up under daily trading and to photograph as well on day 300 as on day one.
The finished ground floor. Full-height walnut shelving with integrated LED, a stepped travertine dis
Materials and finishes
Joinery | Full-height bespoke shelving and cabinetry in high-quality walnut veneer, with integrated LED to each shelf and concealed skirting details. |
Stone | Travertine to the display plinth, consultation bar and bar cladding, precision-cut with crisp mitred angles. |
Lighting | Layered Barrisol style stretch ceiling over the bar, plus recessed downlights, linear profiles and shelf-integrated LED, all on a DALI control system. |
Walls | Smooth polished plaster in a Venetian style finish, giving a stone-like depth and a neutral, contemporary backdrop. |
Metalwork | Bespoke champagne-toned vertical fin screen and a perforated metal grille feature wall. |
Basement | Full refurbishment including new flooring, redecoration and refurbished restroom facilities. |
Shop fit-outs across Covent Garden, Mayfair, Chelsea and Central London
Monmouth Street is one of a number of premium retail and beauty fit-outs Mayfair Interiors has delivered across Central London. The same team, the same standard of joinery, stone and lighting, and the same fixed-price, CDM-compliant approach apply whether the unit is on Carnaby Street, in Covent Garden, Seven Dials, Mayfair, Chelsea, or anywhere else across the West End and the wider city.
We work with fashion and beauty retailers, hospitality operators, independent boutiques, and landlords bringing vacant units up to lettable standard, in some of London's most demanding, highest-footfall locations. If your launch date is fixed and the finish has to reflect your brand from day one, this is the kind of project we are built for.
See the full scope of our shop fit-out service across London, including typical costs and timelines for a functional, mid-range or full premium flagship specification.
Frequently asked questions
Who fitted out the Code 8 Beauty store on Monmouth Street?
Mayfair Interiors delivered the full Cat B retail fit-out of the Code 8 Beauty flagship at 29 Monmouth Street, London, acting as Principal Contractor across the whole scope from strip-out to trading-standard handover.
What is a Cat B retail fit-out?
A Cat B fit-out takes a space from a basic shell or stripped-back state to a finished, brand-specific, ready-to-trade interior. It covers everything a customer sees and uses: joinery, flooring, feature lighting, finishes, partitions and services integration. For this project it meant building the entire Code 8 Beauty retail environment from the inherited unit.
What is the Barrisol style ceiling over the bar?
It is a backlit stretch ceiling: a tensioned translucent membrane with a concealed LED array behind it, giving an even, glare-free plane of light with no visible fittings. Over a beauty consultation bar it delivers the colour-accurate lighting that directly affects how products look and sell. Mayfair Interiors covers the full detail in a dedicated Barrisol style stretch ceiling guide.
How long does a shop fit-out like this take?
A Central London retail fit-out of this size and specification typically runs from several weeks to a few months on site, depending on the joinery, stone and specialist features involved. Mayfair Interiors builds programmes around a fixed launch date, as it did here for the May 2026 opening.
Do you deliver shop fit-outs in Covent Garden, Seven Dials, Mayfair and Chelsea, as well as this area?
Yes. Mayfair Interiors delivers retail, beauty and hospitality fit-outs right across London, including Covent Garden, Seven Dials, Mayfair, Chelsea, Soho, the West End and the wider Central London area, alongside projects like this one. The scope, standard and site management approach are the same wherever the unit is: full turnkey delivery, fixed-price quoting and CDM compliance throughout.
Can Mayfair Interiors work in restricted Central London locations?
Yes. Restricted access, live street frontages, neighbouring tenants and period-building constraints are a routine part of retail fit-out work in areas like Monmouth Street, London. Mayfair Interiors manages site logistics, health and safety and landlord liaison as Principal Contractor throughout.
Planning a shop fit-out in London?
If your launch has to be right from day one, because your customers will judge it on day one, that is the kind of project Mayfair Interiors is built for, across London, from Covent Garden and Seven Dials to Mayfair, Chelsea, Soho, the West End and beyond. We offer free, no-obligation site surveys.
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