Exploring the design behind Bermonds Locke.

This September, we’ll be opening our third hotel in the capital - Bermonds Locke. A sustainable urban retreat in the heart of Bermondsey, in partnership with architect and design firm Holloway Li. Here, Holloway Li’s founders – Alex Holloway and Na Li – explain the narrative behind the building and its Southern California-inspired design.

The desert-inspired aesthetic begins with a moonlit reception bathed in a glittering mirage created by overhead mirrors, inspired by Olaf Eliason’s celebrated Weather Project installation. In the tranquil pursuit of both business and pleasure, visitors can meander through open co-working spaces basking in soft light - with swing chairs, fixed concrete banquette seating and suspended planters punctuating the space between bar and restaurant.

Marking a new design direction for Locke, Holloway Li has curated a living experience carved out of recycled construction site materials that will adorn the studio rooms, bar and restaurant, co-working spaces, gym and yoga room. The studio harnessed the potential of upcycling to curate bespoke furniture and interiors throughout the space. 

Concrete testing cubes destined for landfill find new purpose at Bermonds Locke, serving as plinths for a six-metre long terrazzo table in the ground floor workspace, and shaped into a bar frontage that will serve Bermondsey’s Beer Mile’s finest beer atop its surface. Repurposed steel rebar and clay bricks form decorative ironwork and joinery elements throughout the space.

Bringing the changing gradient of the desert sunset to South London, Locke's signature functional living rooms on the upper floors will be dipped in blue, beige and grey hues and saturated vibrant reds on the lower floors. The studio has designed bespoke modular sofas handmade using sand mixed with resin lay-up to recreate the desert’s tonality. Rough-sawn timber floors welcome a patina to be marked with steps trodden. 

Designed to be lived in, each individual studio is equipped with a fully functional kitchen and laundry facilities, giving guests the flexibility to live in each room undisturbed for anything from one night to three months. Paying homage to nature’s wonder in both aesthetic and eco-responsibility, bespoke bed frames woven from blackened rebar accented with linen canopies infuse old notions of the concrete jungle with a new sense of sanctuary.

Capturing the psychedelic experience of Joshua Tree underpins the design narrative. An industrial process of zinc-passivation creates an iridescent rainbow finish that will be found on bar tops, wall panelling and echoed by fluted polarising glass sliding partitions in the rooms. This metal-dipping process forms a patina over the metal, embedding the desert sky into the hotel’s DNA.

Bermonds Locke is the first of a series of collaborative projects that will see Holloway Li and Locke join creative forces. This latest project is the realisation of the studio’s experimentation with a circular material economy, creating a unique aesthetic as well as revealing low-cost, sustainable practices that speak to the future of design.

About Holloway Li.

Holloway Li was founded by creative interior architect duo Alex Holloway and Na Li. The studio works across a diverse catalogue of hospitality concepts alongside select private homes; the duo operate at the forefront of a new wave of designers, blurring the boundaries between historicism, decoration and digital process. Upcoming 2020 projects include a rooftop extension for the iconic Shoreditch outpost of boutique hotel The Hoxton, Bermonds Locke, a brand new edition of edyn’s international apartment hotel concept Locke in London’s Bermondsey, and Georgian/French brand Entree’s first UK bakery in Notting Hill.