Where the magic happens

Conran and Partners headquarters, London

Park Hyatt, Auckland, New Zealand

bookstore. We introduced a design concept that remains true to The Peninsula’s meticulous brand codes: a rich, classic palette, elegant lines, luxury materials and artisanal touches. The studio introduced additional elements to contemporise the overall experience - mixing classical and minimal aesthetics in a complementary manner that emphasises approachable luxury. At the core of the design concept is a crisp and refined palette that includes marble, slate, leather and lacquer in the distinctive ‘Peninsula green’, offset by champagne metal and soft blush pink tones. Brass edging details express The Peninsula’s heritage in a minimalist manner. The combination of contemporary colours and detailing give the open-plan interior a distinctive, modern edge and offsets the more classical elements. The Hong Kong flagship is the first to feature the new design concept, since completion Conran and Partners has been commissioned to write a brand manual for the brands future rollout in other Peninsula hotels and boutiques, including the new London hotel which is scheduled to open in 2022. The design concept was developed to maximise flexibility to apply to different scales and contexts, from boutiques to pop-ups.

For Portobello Square, a mixed-use residential development in Notting Hill, London, you delivered a community-led regeneration of the iconic area of Portobello Road. Please, could you tell more? As with many of our mixed-use residential schemes, this is a lengthy and interesting journey where we are currently mid-way through. Working from macro to micro, understanding how the new neighbourhood works on a city scale, whilst maintaining a granular person-centric approach. Considering the intimate and tactile nature of the end result. Besides designing thoughtful, beautiful and award-winning places to live, our role as designers is to create a backdrop for neighbourhoods to naturally evolve. Taking into account the views of the existing locals, we have developed a narrative for the core ingredients, for example independent shops, green spaces, working hubs including a steel pan workshop to encourage a sense of ownership. There is no doubt that bringing people into the design journey is where the magic evolves, ensuring we create a place with authenticity and meaning.

You describe yourselves as problem-solvers. Architects and interior designers are in essence problem-solvers. However, we must go further than that, to be opportunity-finders. We add most value when we expose the true potential of a space or a building. For example, this may be finding a solution that releases ‘that left-over space’ that nobody could think what to do with, or it might be enabling a building to be a better version of itself, or perhaps where our ideas act as a catalysts to rejuvenating a neighbourhood that is outside of our project ‘red-line’. But what is a common thread between all of our projects, whether a single room or a 23hectare masterplan, is our key priority to understand the people using the space.

You are a collective, working collaboratively across studios in London and Hong Kong, Please, could you tell us how do you work, and also how do you choose your partners and suppliers? One of Terence’s greatest strengths was the curation of creatives. This approach of bringing together different creative viewpoints into a coherent approach remains fundamental to our practice. Quite deliberately, each of the creative partners has her or his own passions, skills and focuses, each with their own client bases, without too much duplication. But these ‘Venn diagrams’ all overlap and that is where the richest collaboration occurs. Many of our clients appreciate the breadth of knowledge informing a project, even if some of that perspective might be coming from a different discipline, sector or geographic market. You are reimagining the shape and the soul of London. Which is your vision for the city? Our long-standing view has been that peoples’ lives are far more blended than our industry has traditionally given it credit for. Ever evolving technology has enabled home, work and leisure activities in daily lives to cross-over for some time, and the pandemic has substantially accelerated this direction of travel. In some ways London is now reverting to its historic form, where even the neighbourhoods at its heart, included many different uses at the smaller scale and the days of the mega towers with massive floor plates are numbered. This finer grained, organic tapestry of uses creates a far richer experience and will be key to London and the periodic flights to the countryside (also seen after WW2). People now have far greater choices regarding what they need to do and where they want to do it. Whilst homeworking has probably been a good thing for suburban high streets, if the heart of London is going to continue to thrive it must focus on being desirable enough to draw people back in. At an urban scale we can all learn from the hospitality industry which has had to continuously evolve to attract their very fickle customers, who not only expect their experience to be effortless but joyful and stimulating with a distinct sense of place and occasion.

Bond Mansions, Portobello Square, London

The Londoner, where the magic happens

Located in Leicester Square, the theatre district in London, this new boutique hotel is the place to live a not ordinary experience, surrounded by an incredible art collection, unique members club-style private areas and an entire floor dedicated to wellness

Aboutique hotel designed to capture the character of London itself, with winks and nods at every turn to British humour, with an impressive art collection and eclectic details that mirror the vibrant soul of the city. It is The Londoner, the new boutique hotel located in Leicester Square, the theatre district in London, by Edwardian Hotels London, one of the UK’s largest privately owned hotel groups, that put together a world-class design team, with interior designers Yabu Pushelberg, architecture studio Woods Bagot, engineers Arup Associates and artist Ian Monroe. Spread over 16 storeys, with a 30-metre subterranean series of spaces on six levels, creating the deepest habitable basement

in London and among the deepest in the world, The Londoner features 350 guest rooms, suites and a tower penthouse with panoramic views, two private screening rooms, a mix of six concept eateries, including bars and a tavern, alfresco dining on the ground floor and a contemporary Japanese lounge bar with a rooftop terrace and fire pit, plus a unique members club-style private area, an expansive ballroom suited for any occasion, a variety of meeting spaces, and The Retreat, an entire floor dedicated to wellness. The Londoner is a synthesis of the extroverted, witty and seductive character of Leicester Square, a succession of stages that mention the figures of theatrical and cinematographic productions, as the lobby, where the guests can do the check-in remotely via smartphone, a sort of historic cinema ticket office but with the contemporary touch of a mirror coating, and a giant anthropomorphic moon suspended above the

reception, created by the London based illustrator Andrew Rae. Speaking about the interiors, Glenn Pushelberg comments: “When we were designing the hotel, we wanted to break through and connect with the way people are living today on a global level. It is our goal to make high-level, beautifully designed rooms, suites and public areas that enhance the motions of everyday life”. And George Yabu adds: “The Londoner is designed to play into the roots of Leicester Square as London’s historic theatre district. We created layers of programming up into the sky and deep into the earth to emphasise this extroverted, alluring, playful voice. Through subtle nuances we gently infused this energy into the guestrooms because we wanted them to remain evident spaces for comfort and relaxation. Stylistically we tapped into traditional British sensibility and a minimal cohesive neutral palette. The sense of play felt throughout the walls of the hotel is carried into the rooms through bespoke artwork individualised to each room.

There is a subtlety to our choices that reflects the hotel’s versatility and multi-generational thinking”. The boutique hotel is full of bespoke art, spanning from contemporary pieces to emerging artists, with an “exclusively inclusive” art collection born thanks to the collaboration between Yabu Pushelberg, James Robertson Art Consultants and Edwardian Hotel London’s Krishma Singh Dear, curated with a fresh and contemporary approach. Among the dream corners, The Whiskey Room, a lounge reserved for just six tables, opulent green velvet seats and a collection of the best whiskeys in the world, which is accessed via a “secret” passage. Well protected in its own locker, each bottle occupies a dedicated space inside a display case studded with decorative symbols, such as open palms and wide eyes, which playfully observe the occupants of the room. Because The Londoner is where the magic happens.