A steel staircase rises, sculpture-like, through the centre of this five-storey former brewery cooperage in Clerkenwell. The traditional red-brick façade belies the modernity within. Concrete and exposed brickwork reign, softened by features such as French oak floors in bedrooms and a dramatic hanging fireplace.

The RIBA award-winning conversion, by Chris Dyson Architects, is masterful: the modern extension has allowed for a triple-height void which lets in so much light there’s even a living wall. The kitchen is a study in white, with a Carrara marble island and – the ultimate dinner party trick – a dumbwaiter lift. The food lift goes all the way up to the roof terrace (with its own covered kitchen and barbecue area), the perfect place for sun-drenched days ahead.

This apartment is on the fifth floor of The Jam Factory, a notable conversion of Sir William Hartley’s jam-making business from the early 1900s (the Hartley lettering is still emblazoned across the red-brick building, as well as the site’s original industrial chimney). At that time, Bermondsey was known as ‘London’s Larder’ for its food production and trade up and down the river – and today the area’s restaurant scene is arguably as significant.

The apartment is a neutral space, with high-quality accoutrements: timber flooring, floor-to-ceiling windows and – for the more technologically inclined – a TV in the shower and fibre-optic internet. Tenants have access to communal gardens, a shared terrace (also on the fifth floor) and there’s a 24-hour porter.

A microcosm of London sits on St Thomas Street, where this 18th-century church stands next door to the modern, mirrored angles of Renzo Piano’s Shard. St Thomas’ Church was built by Thomas Cartwright, an architect and master mason of Christopher Wren. It has had many lives already: it was a chapter house for Southwark Cathedral, and was later used as an operating theatre for nearby St Thomas’ Hospital.

The apartment begins on the fourth floor of the tower, where you’re delivered, by private lift, to the kitchen. The fifth and sixth floors are living spaces; while the seventh and eighth contain the master bedroom and bathroom, respectively. The interior features have been sensitively updated – dark woods, floorboards and the oak spiral staircase that leads to all floors. All is brightened by the statement arched windows. The crowning glory are plans for a new roof terrace with views of the skyline along the river, including, quite poetically, views of Wren’s St Paul’s Cathedral.

Designer Harriet Holgate has converted this Gothic church in Kensal Green into a comfortable home, while still retaining original ecclesiastical features. The fact it was once a place of worship is clear, from the decorative arches in the main, open-plan living space to the stained glass windows that cast colour onto the white walls. There are no creaky church floorboards here – instead expect underfloor heating, blackened oak parquet flooring and, in the turreted entrance hall, a bronze spiral staircase.

The two first-floor bedrooms – one in muted grey, the other in sage green – are peaceful places for slumber, while the master bedroom on the top floor lets the light in through vaulted ceilings and skylights – you can even look to the heavens while in the freestanding tub.

A former bakery in the heart of Stoke Newington is now home to a three-bedroom maisonette with two private terraces. The original purpose of the building is apparent in the large light-feeding factory-style windows and original quarry tiles, but this is no stuck-in-the-past conversion. A modern intervention has installed a layout befitting the demands of modern life, while a material palette is comprised of plywood, poured concrete and Corian.

Honour the original bakery by rolling up your sleeves in the Schuller kitchen, with has wooden cabinetry and sealed plywood flooring – making any flour spillages easy to clear up.