Ark unveils its first experiential co-living space

This article first appeared in Mix Interiors #223

Words: Dominic Lutyens
Photography: Nicholas Worley

New co-living brand Ark’s first property, the 13-storey Wembley Ark in North London’s Wembley Park, opened last September. An interesting, some might say Utopian proposition, Ark fuses the model of co-working spaces that has mushroomed in the past decade with co-living facilities in the form of serviced apartments. Wembley Ark is a sort of experiment that purports to address new needs in London in the so-called ‘post-pandemic world’, including a growing demand for better quality, remote-working facilities. A more accurate description of a post-pandemic world might be a post-lockdown world, however, since lockdowns in particular radically shook up our working and living patterns.

Ark is a joint venture with real-estate investor Crosstree Real Estate Partners and Re:Shape Generation – itself a joint venture between co-living specialist Re:Shape and Generation, a student accommodation brand. “To date, co-living demand has predominantly been from renters aged 26 to 45, of which there are 1.2m in London, according to a recent report on co-living conducted by Experian,” says Jermaine Browne, co-founder of Ark. “Ark responds to this by providing flexible, community-centric serviced apartments.”

Ark champions social responsibility, while valuing aesthetically pleasing interior design. The Wembley Park building was bought fully furnished and Ark, in partnership with Brent Council and the Brent Youth Foundation, donated some of its furniture to local care homes and community centres. And Wembley Ark, in partnership with the Al-Hasaniya Women’s Centre, offers free accommodation to women who’ve suffered from domestic violence. Wembley Ark’s interiors have been reconfigured by London-based design studio Holloway Li. “We approached the project with a light touch, which involved retaining some of the existing features and furniture,” says Na Li, co-founder of the studio. “Overall, we provided a mix of communal open-plan spaces and more private ones.”

On both co-working and co-living fronts, the 300-room building offers flexibility: guests can stay from two nights to up to one year. In response to the current volatile economic climate and rise in the cost of living, Ark offers a fixed, all-inclusive room rate, priced from per night for a minimum two-night stay or per month. This covers a guest room with ensuite bathroom; unlimited access to co-working spaces; dry-cleaning and laundry; a round-the-clock concierge and gym; super-fast WI-FI and business rates and utilities (gas, electricity and water). Ark also lays on a programme of activities, ranging from cocktail-making to pottery. Ark sees this arrangement as an appealing alternative to house shares, giving guests who can afford the monthly rate a mix of privacy and opportunities to socialise. A communal dining area and kitchen will open soon on the top floor.

The building is complex: a large, open plan, homely space filled with chairs in a mid-century style in oatmeal shades and plants in terracotta pots defining the entrance. Providing the odd pop of colour are brilliantly coloured paintings and patterned cushions. “A reception desk from the old hotel stood in the centre of the space but it blocked the view and was removed,” says Li. Guests are now welcomed by staff in what Li describes as a university-style “porter’s lodge” (it also looks like a cinema box office), positioned along one wall. This room also includes semi-secluded booths with plum walls and seating covered in a tweedy, rust-coloured Kvadrat fabric.

“We chose a vinyl Bolon carpet here because its pale colour looks homely,” says Li. “Yet it’s made of vinyl and so easy to clean in an area that needs to withstand heavy human traffic.” Wembley Ark’s guest rooms, which occupy the former hotel’s rooms, are distributed over 10 floors and are decorated with a soothing neutral palette – mainly mushroom and putty tones. Their shipshape, built-in elements, such as L-shaped banquettes provide a social space adjoining the bed and streamlined kitchenettes were inspired, says Li, by “yacht design”.

It remains to be seen how this experimental, ambitious project will fare. There’s a fine line between creating a neutral environment likely to suit most tastes – the general aesthetic of Wembley Park’s interiors – and ending up with one that feels bland and impersonal. This may have influenced the decision to incorporate some offbeat colours too, such as a pale, dusty purple tone that Li describes as taro, in the guest rooms. “It’s the colour of a root vegetable popular in Asia,” says Li. By contrast, for a media room, Holloway Li plumped for richer colours with a red carpet, navy walls and comfortable furniture by Hay. “We were inspired by the Electric Cinema [in White City and Notting Hill, London],” she says.

The project was completed in January when Wembley Ark’s roof terrace opened, providing guests with another attraction: it will host music gigs, poetry readings, barbecues and even boast allotments, the latter regarded by Ark as especially desirable in a post-pandemic world.