framo (fra-mo), abbr. fragment of a moment
1. A coordinated movement of elements within life’s sequence that captures a memory.
2. A state of mind; an essence of capture; a constellation of stimuli at a given time.
FRAMO is a research-infused, design-led architecture and interior practice based in East London. Our work spans from the scale of tiny everyday objects to furniture, buildings, and masterplans. We like to think of our practice as an out-of-the-box conglomerate of multidisciplinary ideas, inspired by fine art, contemporary contexts, nature, and the creative individuals we encounter daily.
At FRAMO, we encourage every project to follow a process of collaborative participation, with an iterative dialogue between all parties involved. This approach enables us to achieve finely crafted results that are not only beautiful and timeless, but also delivered on schedule and designed to add value for our clients. Our process is intimate and individually tailored.
Katarina Mercep – Founder
Katarina nurtured her childhood love of architecture at the School of Architecture, University of Belgrade, where she earned her BArch and MArch (Hons). Her forward-thinking approach and ambition were widely recognised across the faculty, leading to an invitation to join the mentoring team for both the undergraduate and graduate programmes she had completed. During this period, she also took part in material research workshops and creative design installations exhibited across Belgrade’s renowned galleries and public spaces.
Following her move to London, Katarina joined the AAVA Architecture Studio, contributing to housing projects across the city. She later pursued her ambitions at Thomas Heatherwick Studio before eventually founding her own practice, FRAMO Studio.
Zlatibor Mountain, Serbia
client: Private
status: Construction
size: 2800 sqft
year: 2025
A family mountain house set on the slopes of Zlatibor Mountain in Serbia, designed for a family of four. The shared living spaces are discreetly hidden beneath ground level, revealed only where the terrain naturally opens along the hillside. Formed in cast raw concrete, these spaces carry a deliberate brutalist presence, contrasted by the silky feel of polished surfaces and the comfort of underfloor and wall heating.
Above, the private rooms rise as a slender tower among century-old pine trees. Built from lightweight, prefabricated CLT panels assembled on site, the upper volumes sit quietly within the landscape. The result is a home that balances rugged materiality with refined warmth, shaped by both the mountain’s character and the needs of contemporary family life.
London, UK
client: Private
status: Construction
size: 2400 sqft
year: 2025
A total refurbishment of a four-storey mid-terrace townhouse within the pedestrian zone near Waterloo Underground Station in central London. Our design approach set out to preserve the character and integrity of the Victorian period while integrating a strong French influence tailored to our client’s preferences.
Working with a natural palette and raw, tactile materials, we aimed to create spaces with a calm, refined presence. The result is a home with a subtle sculptural quality, where historical elements and contemporary details are brought together in a cohesive and thoughtful way.
Amsterdam, Netherlands
client: Private
status: Complete
size: 500 sqft
year: 2023
A compact loft interior completed in 2023 within a thoughtfully designed, nature-infused new development in Amsterdam. The project was created for a client whose energy defines the space itself - an inspiring individual full of ideas, positivity, and an unmistakably entrepreneurial spirit.
The design embraces the building’s calm, green surroundings while responding to the client’s dynamic way of living. Natural materials and soft textures bring warmth into the compact footprint, while smart, adaptable layouts allow the space to shift between moments of work, rest, and creativity. Carefully framed views towards the shared landscaped courtyards strengthen the connection to the outdoors, making the loft feel larger than its size suggests.
The result is a bright, efficient, and uplifting home that reflects both the character of its setting and the vibrant personality of its owner - a small space designed to support big ideas.
London, UK
client: Private
status: Complete
size: 500 sqft
year: 2024
An extension to a mid-terrace Victorian house in Walthamstow, designed for a young family of four. The challenge of the long, narrow existing plan led to the introduction of an internal courtyard at the heart of the home. This crafted, private outdoor room serves as a green background for a mindful washroom and acts as a quiet pause within the layout.
The courtyard creates a seamless connection between the original front rooms and the new rear extension, linking the living room to the dining area through a single, continuous green space. Its presence allows natural light to reach all parts of the ground floor, bringing clarity, openness, and a renewed sense of coherence to the home.
Zlatibor Mountain, Serbia
client: Private
status: Construction
size: 150 sqm
year: 2025
A mountain retreat on Zlatibor, designed for a young family seeking a quiet escape from urban life. Hidden among century-old pine trees, the house is conceived as a place to disconnect from surrounding neighbours and fully immerse in the forest landscape.
The shared family spaces are discreetly positioned beneath ground level, revealed only where the sloping terrain opens along the hillside. Formed in cast raw concrete, these lower levels carry a grounded, brutalist presence, softened by the refined feel of polished surfaces and the comfort provided by underfloor and wall heating.
Above, all bedrooms rise as a light, vertical volume that sits gently within the canopy of ancient pines. Constructed from prefabricated CLT panels assembled on site, this upper tower brings warmth and tactility while minimising the home’s impact on its natural setting.
Together, these contrasting elements create a retreat that balances rugged materiality with a calm domestic warmth—a thoughtful response to both the dramatic landscape of Zlatibor and the needs of a modern family looking to reconnect with nature.
London, UK
client: Private
status: Complete
size: 375sqft
year: 2018
HAIKU
open balustrade
potential to rent
isolate/close off
fire safe
light
space to store
space to show off
nat-vent bathroom
natural materials
healthy materials
tatami
'We want a contemporary Japanese room that feels calm and happy but also a bit
British quirky. A balanced space for work and relaxation with nice areas to
display things and additional areas for books. Wood and natural materials.
We also need storage for some of the stuff we currently have in the attic that
we don’t want to see. Bicycle frames, magazines and a massive women shoe
collection to name but a few.' - the client
photo: Paul Tucker
London, UK
client: Private
status: Current
size: 1290 sqft
year: 2016
The Evolving House
Conceived as an open-plan home designed to frame everyday life as a series of subtle, theatre-like scenes, this Victorian house from the late 1800s has been reimagined to accommodate a family whose routines, needs, and ambitions are in constant evolution.
The new layout brings a sense of clarity and openness to the ground floor, allowing light to travel freely through the space. This transparency offers gentle glimpses of daily life to the outside observer while giving the family the flexibility to adapt, upgrade, and redefine how they use their home over time.
The result is a living environment that is both resilient and responsive—an architecture shaped to embrace change rather than resist it.
London, UK
client: Private
status: Complete
size: 1615 sqft
year: 2019
London, UK
client: Private
status: Complete
size: 750 sqft
year: 2021
Victorian house flat loft conversion with starting challenges such as central entrance staircase and divided cellular space, lack of natural light penetration and airiness. Project was finished at the Planning application stage, allowing the client to have hands-on experience within the construction industry.
London, UK
client: Tender Books Bookshop
status: Concept
size: 325 sqft
year: 2020
Tenderbooks provides a home for independent artist publishing, lectures and events. In order to host many different programs within a small space, FRAMO’s conceptual idea was to create a space for transformation. Bookshop would change between different spaces for cosy quiet reading, a secluded exhibition of rare books, records and artwork with private viewing area and the client’s stationery corner during the day, while hosting regular free-flow lunch events, lectures, performances and installations in the afternoons/evenings.
A small space with huge ambitions, FRAMO recognised strategies of visual expansion, orchestrated movement, light furniture and moveable mirror screen shelf. The main focus was on showcasing the variety of different objects taking in consideration their shape and size, different ways objects could be showcased and ways people would move through those. Study led to the modular catalogue of programmable stands resembling nature in movement, at the same time being provoking, loud but minimal, light and organic with mathematical precision the background.
London, UK
client: Private
status: Complete
size: 540 sqft
year: 2018
“Clothes means nothing until someone lives in them” - Marc Jacobs
A beautiful family of (at that time) three fashionistas approached us with an idea of expanding their habitat and making more room for a fourth member to join in soon. With the client's sharp eye for selecting unique and latest fashion trends, they asked us for a loft design that would stand out from the other “developer’s style” looking conversions.
What we found on site were tall ceilings, untypical for this type of house. Immediate idea was to create the looks of the fashion store where clothes and belongings would be displayed as an art piece. This thinking, further on, led us to develop a linear system of movement through the extension and allowed us to play with transparency levels equally for the inside and the outside views. The movement through the house would include going through curtains, open and closed spaces, opaque, semi transparent or completely transparent enclosures with a walk-in closet that can transform into a single bed for a passing visitor.
gallery O3one, Belgrade, Serbia
status: Complete
relevance: workshop and exhibition
title: Inconsistencies v0.4
Group work 4of7: Djordje Stojanovic, Milutin Cerovic and Milica Tasic. University of Belgrade students: Katarina Mercep, Ivana Radovic, Marija Pop-Mitic, Danka Sijerkovic, Dea Kolacek, Emilija Zlatkovic, Milan Katic and Marko Vukajlovic.
Photo: Ana Kostic
'The model was built in the open air space, to interact with weather conditions over the period of a few weeks. Elastic material behaviour was a key to the construction process. A custom made plug-in was developed for Rhino to allow for geometric modelling with material constraints. Construction of the model is carried out as a collective effort, according to the design protocol structured as a set of simple rules based on easy to do techniques. The project was carried out in collaboration with National Alliance for Local Economic Development and with the generous support of Serbian Wind Energy Association' - by 4of7
London, UK
status: Ongoing
Since the COVID-19 pandemic started, we noticed a growing need among ourselves to organically expand our horizons towards the natural processes of reviving heritage grains and giving them an elevated form of life with a higher purpose. We explored how a simple staple such as bread can turn into a piece of art, trying to control its natural processes throughout the making.
What a better way to combine tangible and intangible, to combine hands-on research and product design with marketing and promotion. You can follow the process on our instagram page @framobakesbread.
London, UK
client: Private
status: Concept, Complete
size: 1290 sqft
year: 2016
Our first project, our pulen. By carefully dissecting the Victorian house elements, FRAMO gave components a contemporary makeover. Hidden storage, and semi open space with curated material selection for a forward looking client were an implied matter. Sunken ground floor bathroom with a below-the-roof conservatory space for seclusion, reading and plane observation was our hidden gem response.
Faculty of Architecture, University of Belgrade, Serbia
status: Complete
diploma project
Module M9
title: NEOinfrastructure dwelling: From function to performance
prof Đorđe Stojanović
asst Milutin Cerović
This line of study is set to explore the role of infrastructure in architectural and urban space and re-examine the relevance of the infrastructural approach to the housing development within the natural surroundings. Suggested approach is based on the design process which can be steered in the way to enable natural growth which would in return enable the high density urban growth. The overall form is never defined but can be viewed through the formation processes while its performance is observed based on the behaviour of the users according to a certain time frame. Any building resulting from this approach is envisioned as a multi-functional residential structure providing numerous possibilities in occupancy scenarios. Vertical distribution enabled by structural and infrastructural mechanisms is observed as a network which can provide for polyvalent use of space.
