It’s been said that nothing is certain except death and taxes. While successive governments try their best to ‘refresh’ the latter, little has been done to update the traditions surrounding funerals since the Victorian period.
Often, personal experiences of funeral parlours consist of generous people dealing with the death of loved ones with sensitivity and warmth. However, there’s still a sense of the stuffy, of lace curtains and black trim.
Exit Here is the surprising brainchild of restaurateur Oliver Peyton and Transit Studio, and aims to open up funeral parlours; to make them accessible, contemporary, and, for want of a better word, less of a scary prospect. Having previously worked together refurbishing the RA Café, Peyton and Transit seem to have gone a little left-field with their next project. Ben Masterton-Smith, Director of Transit, admits as much: ‘It was such an extraordinary brief to rethink the future of the funeral parlour that we couldn’t say no.'
Through research and discussion, as well as understanding how the industry operates, we hope we have made what is inevitably a difficult time somewhat easier through our designs, with greater possibility for a more personalised experience.
Design is focussed on creating a more domestic environment. Inside, a large, curved corridor links two private meeting spaces — one set up as a living room and another a dining room — to the parlour’s ‘contemplation space'. A mix of modern and vintage furniture along with more cheerful colours and timber flooring add to the open, personal feel, while a folding timber screen for the windows has been designed by Giles Wilson-Copp to add privacy when requested.
There’s no more clutter on the outside: a simple, clean shopfront aided by a previously-existing art deco frontage and a hand-scripted neon sign is all that’s needed — and no mention of the service behind the door.
Inside Exit Here.
The old rules have also been updated when it comes to caskets. Human hips have actually become wider, meaning that the tapering found on most caskets is now an outdated template. The new, symmetrical design comes in a core range of colours, but can also be personalised, and for an extra touch, Exit Here’s Day of the Dead-inspired casket (pictured below) is hand-drawn and aims to emulate the festival’s celebration of life and death, rather than the melancholic approach we seem to thrive on traditionally.
The taboos surrounding death are passé, and like Peyton, Masterton-Smith is a firm believer in opening up the concept of death: ‘We hope that our work can help break down attitudes and taboos around talking about death, so that ultimately people can really choose how they would like to be remembered and celebrated.' Exit right
The Bitter Pill urns, in cobalt blue and glossy black
The interior sees a mix of modern and vintage furniture along with brightly coloured walls and oak flooring
Exit Here offers a range of specially commissioned caskets available in a selection of finishes and colours, as well as environmentally friendly and biodegradable options
The curved corridor links two private meeting spaces, one used as a living room and the other as a dining room.
INFORMATION
ADDRESS
277-279 Chiswick High Road,
London W4 4PU
-
Marylebone restaurant Nina turns up the volume on Italian diningAt Nina, don’t expect a view of the Amalfi Coast. Do expect pasta, leopard print and industrial chic
-
Tour the wonderful homes of ‘Casa Mexicana’, an ode to residential architecture in Mexico‘Casa Mexicana’ is a new book celebrating the country’s residential architecture, highlighting its influence across the world
-
Jonathan Anderson is heading to Dior MenAfter months of speculation, it has been confirmed this morning that Jonathan Anderson, who left Loewe earlier this year, is the successor to Kim Jones at Dior Men
-
The art of the textile label: how British mill-made cloth sold itself to Indian buyersAn exhibition of Indo-British textile labels at the Museum of Art & Photography (MAP) in Bengaluru is a journey through colonial desire and the design of mass persuasion
-
Artist Qualeasha Wood explores the digital glitch to weave stories of the Black female experienceIn ‘Malware’, her new London exhibition at Pippy Houldsworth Gallery, the American artist’s tapestries, tuftings and videos delve into the world of internet malfunction
-
Ed Atkins confronts death at Tate BritainIn his new London exhibition, the artist prods at the limits of existence through digital and physical works, including a film starring Toby Jones
-
Tom Wesselmann’s 'Up Close' and the anatomy of desireIn a new exhibition currently on show at Almine Rech in London, Tom Wesselmann challenges the limits of figurative painting
-
A major Frida Kahlo exhibition is coming to the Tate Modern next yearTate’s 2026 programme includes 'Frida: The Making of an Icon', which will trace the professional and personal life of countercultural figurehead Frida Kahlo
-
A portrait of the artist: Sotheby’s puts Grayson Perry in the spotlightFor more than a decade, photographer Richard Ansett has made Grayson Perry his muse. Now Sotheby’s is staging a selling exhibition of their work
-
From counter-culture to Northern Soul, these photos chart an intimate history of working-class Britain‘After the End of History: British Working Class Photography 1989 – 2024’ is at Edinburgh gallery Stills
-
Celia Paul's colony of ghostly apparitions haunts Victoria MiroEerie and elegiac new London exhibition ‘Celia Paul: Colony of Ghosts’ is on show at Victoria Miro until 17 April
