Ludlow Library Window Seat London

The Ludlow Library Window Seat turns the wall a window sits in into the room’s bookcase. Two full-height walnut bookcases stand either side of the window, and a cushioned seat spans between them at sill height, so the window becomes the place to read rather than a gap in the shelving. Beneath the seat, three matt white cupboard doors take the things that do not belong on a shelf.

The finish is a walnut carcass with matt white fronts, so the books and objects sit in warm timber bays while the doors read as a quiet white band at low level. One bay in each bookcase is lined in white and lit, for the pieces worth showing. Slim black bars on every door.

How it works: each bookcase is a solid-back carcass fixed to the wall, with adjustable shelves in the upper bays and a two-door cupboard at the base. The seat is a solid 18mm board spanning from one bookcase to the other, supported on its own carcass so it does not rely on the window wall, and the cupboard beneath it is divided into three with doors on concealed soft-close hinges. The back of the seat carcass is set off the external wall with a ventilation gap, so the reveal stays dry.

The cushion is a firm foam core with a fibre wrap in a hard-wearing fabric, made to the seat and removable for cleaning.

Designed around how you use the window

A window seat that faces the room is a bench; one that is framed by shelves is a place to sit. The Ludlow puts the books within reach of the seat, the cupboard beneath it for blankets and games, and the lit bays at eye level, so the window wall does three jobs at once.

• Two full-height walnut bookcases with adjustable shelves
• Cushioned seat spanning between them over three cupboards
• Lit display bay in each bookcase, lined in white
• Two-door cupboard at the base of each bookcase
• Matt white doors with slim black bar handles
• Solid 18mm seat on its own carcass, ventilated at the back
• Cushion made to the seat, with a removable cover
• Built to the ceiling and scribed to the window reveal

Designed for the room: the bookcases can be a different width on each side where the window is off-centre, the seat can be deepened to 600mm for sitting sideways with your legs up, and the base cupboards can become drawers if you would rather not lift the cushion.

Built for everyday use: the seat is a board you sit on, not a lid on a box, and the doors beneath it carry a softened edge at shin height. Every carcass has a solid 18mm back fixed to the wall, so the run stands square in a bay that rarely is.

The Ludlow shown spans a single window about 1.5 metres wide with bookcases of 600mm each side; the same pieces are drawn to your window, your ceiling and your radiator at the design visit.

Manufactured in our Wembley workshop

Your window seat and bookcases are made to measure and cut in our HA9 Wembley factory from the survey of your wall. The beam saw cuts each panel to its own size, the CNC drills the shelf and hinge positions, and the industrial edge-bander finishes every visible edge, so the bookcases, the seat and the doors leave the workshop as one matched set.

The seat board is banded on its front edge before the cushion is made to it, and the cupboard fronts are hung and adjusted in the workshop.

The window width, the sill height, the reveal, the skirting and the radiator position are measured at your design visit, and the run is scribed to the wall and the reveal on installation.

Quality you can rely on: your Metro fitted furniture comes with a 10-year guarantee covering parts and labour.