FT House & Home – Architectural salvage: antidote to the age of bling

This weekend we were featured on the front page ofThe Financial Times Weekend, House & Home section. The editor of House & Home, Helen Barrett’slong-read article followsthe story of Retrouvius in the last 25 years and the increase in popularity the last couple of decades for using reclaimed materials.

“We were the antidote to the age of bling. Salvage is longevity and buying it is instant history.”

She highlights the breadth of waste from demolition sites in the UK, in the influx of large developments and construction, which has resulted in a huge amount of possible salvage stock from across multiple provenances.

The recent salvage hauls including from Cross Rail development in London, where a large amount of Edwardiandoors were saved just in time from the demolition of a West End university building. The Cumberbatch Building in Oxford was repurposed earlier this year to make way for a more contemporary development, as a result, there were exquisite quality teak doors, mid century Le Corbusian shelving units and brutalist architectural materials which were all saved.

Thanks to Helen Barrett of FT House and Home
Harry Crowder, photographer.

Retrouvius article in FT Weekend, House & Home was published on Saturday 23rd November.

READ MORE

Architectural Digest – Pioneers

For our German speaking friends,  Adam and the Retrouvius Salvage team invite Architectural Digest Germany to explore the showroom. Out now in the current May 2026 issue. Thank you for visiting us! Imagery:…
Read More

Reuse in action: tapestries

Here we share favourite pieces from our current stock and ideas for how to use them. Verdure tapestries bring the outside in. 17th and 18th century pieces are finely woven in lush foliate…
Read More
Menu