WE HAVE THE TOOLS TO SHAPE BUILD TO RENT

David Phillips has been leading the way for over 20 years, proving design, furnishing and installation services that have helped shape the private-rented sector.

Throughout this time, we have worked across the spectrum with funds and institutional investors, private developers, housing associations, universities and student accommodation providers, operators, and property managers. I truly believe that no other furnishing and specialist services supplier has a better understanding of the UK’s Build to Rent (BTR) market than us. As the sector evolves from traditional apartments to emerging and alternative residential asset classes such as student accommodation, co-living and assisted living, we continue to learn, adapt and grow.

To this end, we’ve developed an integrated, end-to-end service covering interior design, spatial planning, kitchens and fitted furniture, loose furniture and appliances, bespoke product ranges, replenishment, AV and media, and window treatments – giving us the tools to shape the BTR sector.

Design studio

We have an award-winning interior design studio providing a full interior design service from the conceptual stage through to final design and installation. This includes spatial planners who can work with developers at an early stage to optimise general arrangements and model individual rooms; and CAD designers who can provide detailed drawings of loose and fitted furniture for manufacture and installation. This year, we created our first fully-bespoke product at Manhattan Loft Gardens in Stratford. We are able to work with the developer to produce bespoke product ranges that are unique to their development and maintain stock levels long term to so items can be replenished.

FF&E

We’re a full FF&E sub-contractor, familiar with working under site conditions as well as in finished buildings. Our team can fit design-led kitchens, fitted wardrobes, fitted tables, fitted beds, integrated media units, room dividers and a range of custom-made window treatments – anything that’s required. We have been supplying and installing fitted furniture in the BTR sector for over 15 years, mainly through our work in purpose-built student accommodation. We expect fitted jobs to increase with the emergence of co-living. This is an asset class similar to student accommodation – with a composition comprising en-suite bedrooms with shared kitchens and amenity spaces – but for rent to young professionals (and in some cases downsizers) rather than students. This private-rented genre is more established in Berlin where we have been instructed on a micro-studio scheme to install bespoke fitted furniture including fitted beds, storage and fully-functional kitchenettes.

Shared amenity spaces

Equally specialist are the shared amenity spaces. We are capable of creating everything from entrance lobbies and reception areas to club lounges, sky gardens, shared dining and co-working spaces as well as specialist facilities such as gyms, cinema rooms, cafes, bars and even nightclubs with our full AV and media offer.

As the sector grows, expectations are for professionally managed developments that come fully-serviced, with a full range of amenity spaces for tenants to enjoy. At the same time, emerging asset classes such as co-living have placed greater emphasis on the need to provide a more bespoke, fitted furniture solution. BTR is more than just furniture; it’s a professionalised private-rented sector that enables ‘Generation Rent’ to live in style whilst paying consideration to tenant welfare. This requires a joined-up, end-to-end approach where all aspects of the job are considered.

Nick Gill is Group CEO at David Phillips. If you’d like to hear about our Build to Rent service, call 020 3872 2295.