This month, pioneering hospitality brand, Locke, will open its second hotel in London. Locke at Broken Wharf is a 113-room destination that includes a bar, restaurant, lounge and coworking space. The adaptive reuse project comprised a complete gut restoration and fit-out of an existing seven storey office building, situated just minutes from Blackfriars.
New York based Grzywinski+Pons – previously responsible for several of the brand’s locations – led the design and have continued their propensity for muted shades and detailed characterful accessories here.
The studio was inspired by the unique location of the project as well as the building being adapted, including the contrast in architecture and scenery surrounding the site. ‘The linear plan links two antithetical poles, each of which is equally and quintessentially London: on one side of the building you have some of the most spectacular and picturesque vistas overlooking the Thames, only steps away from the Millennium Bridge, with the Tate Modern, London Eye and Southbank Centre right on your doorstep. Then, just tens of meters to the north, you have a brutalist cross town artery – a dystopian vehicular tunnel straight out of Blade Runner,’ say Grzywinski+Pons. ‘There’s both urban grit and splendour, depending on which direction you choose to look.’