- Location London, UK
- Client Ocubis Limited
- Year 2019
- Status Ongoing
- Sectors: Hospitality
In the heart of Shoreditch, east London, a new 10-storey hotel restitches the broken streetscape of Paul Street, filling a long-standing gap in the terrace and adding to the energy of a flourishing creative and social quarter. Taking cues from the area’s rich history of joinery and furniture-making craft, the hotel’s main elevation features visible ‘bird’s mouth’ joints at every junction. An abstract motif embossed into the surface evokes the fine grain of the crown-cut timber that was worked here for centuries.
“A bold, architectural gesture which is high quality and considered to be a positive addition within this varied local context.”
- Location London, UK
- Client Ocubis Limited
- Year 2019
- Status Ongoing
Nestled between the tech hub of Old Street’s Silicon Roundabout and the bars and galleries of Shoreditch, Paul Street runs through a fascinating area of contrasting architectural languages, once dominated by Victorian and Edwardian warehouses but now undergoing rapid change.
Our hotel design responds to the long-established urban hierarchy along the street, where the buildings ‘step down’ in height from north to south from the area’s newly-established, pedestrianised focal point at Leonard Circus. The building, which features a visually permeable and publicly accessible restaurant/café at ground level, fills a long-standing gap in the terrace, restitching the broken streetscape and breathing new life into a street that has been dominated by closed-off offices for years.
The design of the hotel is steeped in the area’s rich industrial history, with detailing on the elevation speaking to the heritage of carpentry, joinery and furniture-making that dominated the neighbourhood in the 19th century.
A dynamic façade celebrates the romantic possibility of the bay window and the window seat, while the generous glazed openings, mounted in bronze frames, recall the large windows common in the historic warehouses of the area. The folding, rhythmic elevation, which is stepped back at its upper levels, is designed to be appreciated obliquely as well as face-on.
Robust masonry is the dominant material of the façade, arranged in geometric panels. Where possible, these are manufactured using reconstituted stone, similar to that of a London stock brick. Modern construction methods reflect an evolved vernacular that speaks both to Shoreditch’s history and its present-day spirit.
Committed to sustainability, the car-free hotel incorporates a fabric-first approach, on-site generation of hot water and electricity, high-efficiency lighting, and roof-mounted photovoltaic panels, all contributing to its BREEAM Excellent rating.
Jestico + Whiles won the planning permission for this building, with Hackney Planning describing the design as“a bold architectural gesture which is high quality and considered to be a positive addition within this varied local context.”