Studio
piqu is an owner-led kitchen and interiors studio in Orpington, working with clients across South London and Kent. Every project is shaped by Adrian's experience, practical judgement and belief that a kitchen has to work beautifully in daily life, not just in photographs.
Adrian
Thirty years of kitchen design, end to end on every project.
piqu is led by Adrian Graves, who has spent thirty years designing kitchens for considered homes. The studio is deliberately small. Adrian works directly with every client — through the first conversation, the brief, the design, the specification, the ordering, the installation and the project after it is finished. There is no separate sales team and no handover halfway through a project.
In conversation, Adrian listens carefully and challenges where it is useful. The job is to help a client make the decisions that move a kitchen most — and to make sure those decisions are made in the right order, with the trade-offs visible.
“A good kitchen is not just a set of products. It is a series of decisions made in the right order.”
Why the practical background matters
Kitchens succeed or fail in the details.
Adrian's background is manufacturing-informed. He understands how cabinetry is actually made, how appliances behave over time, how worktops fabricate, how installation tolerances work and how a kitchen has to be planned so the finished room holds together over years rather than over the launch photographs.
That perspective shapes the design. A kitchen is not just a set of pretty fronts; it is a sequence of layout decisions, appliance plans, service runs, access constraints, material choices and daily-use details that all have to land cleanly. Designing with the practical consequences in mind is what stops a kitchen looking right on the drawing but feeling slightly wrong once the family is living in it.
How piqu works
A calm, owner-led process.
Most projects begin with a showroom conversation, by appointment, so cabinetry, finishes and appliances are in front of you while the project is discussed. A careful brief follows — the room, the family, the way the home is used, the priorities and the approximate investment. From the brief, design comes first; specification grows out of the design, not the other way round. A written Specification and Investment Proposal makes the project clear in writing, and installation is run by the same studio that designed it.
The whole sequence is laid out properly on the Process page.
Brands and systems
Carefully chosen systems, not the whole story.
The studio specifies German systems that match the standard of work piqu puts its name to. Leicht is the lead cabinetry partner; Gaggenau appliances are specified inside the cabinetry plan; Bora downdraft cooktops feature where overhead extraction would compromise the room; Siemens supports the project where another brand suits the brief. Sudbrock is the selected German furniture system used for wardrobes, living-and-media furniture, hallway storage and home-office pieces beyond the kitchen.
Each is named because it earns its place in the project, not because it is the headline.
What clients say
Not pushy, never rushed.
“Adrian took the time to fully understand our wants, needs and budget.”
— piqu client
“Far and away the least stressful part of our renovation.”
— piqu client
Recognition
Recognised by Houzz.
piqu has been recognised by Houzz multiple times, including Best of Houzz 2026 — Design & Service.
Related
Process · Guides · Kitchens · Projects · Gaggenau · Furniture · Service area · Contact
Talk to us
Start with a showroom conversation.
If you are planning a kitchen or connected furniture project, the best place to begin is usually a showroom conversation. Visits are by appointment so the project gets time and attention.