Sophie Howarth - with a group of collaborators including author and philosopher Alain de Botton - has opened a shop in London, designed by artist and designer Susanna Edwards, and graphic designer Joseph Harries

The store, called The School of Life, features a bookshop and lecture room and also offers psychotherapy and unusual holidays and tours.

The following information is from Alain de Botton:

--

Designer Susanna Edwards (www.susannaedwards.com) has unveiled her first shop space, an unusual bookshop and lecture room that forms the London headquarters of The School of Life (www.theschooloflife.com), an organisation offering higher education, a bookshop, psychotherapy and a holiday bureau.

Edwards has been inspired by handmade antique block type to create an identity that hovers between the contemporary and curiously nostalgic.

The teaching space in The School of Life is given over to a wrap-around mural by the artist Charlotte Mann (www.charlottemann.co.uk). It transforms a previously dingey and low room into a place of wonder.

The School of Life has a division dedicated to running architectural 'holidays' or field trips to unusual locations.

The School is offering a trip to the Isle of Wight with the photographer Martin Parr, another trip up the M1 with David Lawrence, an architectural historian and author of 'A history of the Little Chef' and finally, author Alain de Botton is leading a tour to Heathrow to look at the evolution in architectural styles.