At KM WORKSHOPS Limited, we operate at the intersection of technical design, workshop practice, and creative research. Our purpose is to take our clients’ creative ambitions through the practical realities of design and delivery, right through to completion.
Projects — We provide flexible services and direct consultancy to the industry, while also supporting private clients in forming and leading project teams. Guiding ideas from concept to completion, our approach combines creative research, detailed design, and hands-on project direction. Working across the RIBA stages, our role is to protect the integrity of an idea—refining details, coordinating teams, and ensuring delivery with both precision and imagination.
Furniture — Alongside project work, we collaborate with clients to create one-off bespoke pieces of furniture. Whether responding to a loose brief or developing a defined concept, each piece is designed and detailed in-house and, where required, realised through our network of skilled makers. The result is work shaped by creative appreciation, technical expertise, and a commitment to enduring quality.
Drawing influence from a wide range of industries, we make it our business to rigorously interrogate and understand our clients creative ideals while experimenting and researching ways to achieve the best outcomes.
Taking an open approach to each project, we do not limit ourselves to any single style or trend. Instead, we are rooted in a traditional understanding of form, space, order, and process — giving us firm footing from which we test new ideas. That, combined with an ever-inquiring mind, enables us to deliver work with depth, clarity, integrity, and lasting appeal.
If you are seeking a budget-driven design or manufacture service, we may not be the right fit. But if, like us, you value a thoughtful approach, fine manufacture, and the pursuit of beauty — then we can help.
KM WORKSHOPS LIMITED was founded in 2009 by Karl Mannerings, a London-based interior architect. Originally established to deliver Karl’s more “eccentric” and “less ordinary” interior architecture projects, the business has since evolved to encompass his passion for researching manufacturing techniques—both traditional and contemporary.
Raised in a family that encouraged creativity and inquisitiveness—and immersed in the world of fine joinery through the family business—Karl developed an intuitive understanding of how “things” are made and the built environment becomes part of our lives.
“Looking back, the appreciation for design and architecture instilled in me from childhood means I am simply the natural result of my upbringing and early life.”
After formal design training at Kingston University, Karl worked internationally, delivering projects across the globe with leading designers, international brands, and private clients. Now, working closely with a network of fellow creatives, technicians, skilled makers and artisan craftsmen, Karl creates teams that reflect both skill and passion.
“My interest in how and why things are made really drives the work. The ‘how’ comes from my upbringing—an appreciation of hand skills, a fascination with technology, and a deep respect for design movements. The ‘why,’ I believe, has developed over time into something softer and more poetic.”