Experience Masterplanning
Yotel London
YOTEL - Clerkenwell, London
YOTEL launched their first London city hotel, revealing stunning interiors designed by London-based Spaceagency.
Located in historic Clerkenwell and in close walking distance to Farringdon Crossrail and TFL station, the hotel occupies the site of a formerly disused petrol station and comprises of 212 guestrooms, club lounge, cafe and bar at ground floor as well as gym, co-working and meeting rooms.
The particular site creates a physical connection between St. John’s Square to the North and Clerkenwell Road to the South. Clerkenwell is today the home to a large creative community of designers and makers. In stark contrast, St. John’s Square and the adjoining St. John’s Gate date back to medieval time. Against this context, Spaceagency approached the design as a seamless transition between YOTEL’s futuristic aesthetic and the crafty, earthy character of Clerkenwell.
The concept is based on creating a transition between the YOTEL brand, with its distinctly modern and sleek aesthetic. The other main driver was Clerkenwell’s rich history of craftsmanship: watchmaking, ironmongery, jewellery and its role today as a hub of London’s creative industry. The site presented the opportunity to bring these two worlds together. This transition was the design driver for the ground floor with an entrance from historic St John’s square with its quaint cobblestones and long history, and a second entrance from Clerkenwell Road, which is very urban.
We reflected this futuristic style in the reception area fronting Clerkenwell road, through choice of materials and colour such as white solid surfaces and the geometry of the bespoke furniture and ceiling design.
Subtle interior design cues such as cove lighting, tiling grid and curved brass floor inlays, draw visitors and guests into the inner public spaces. The hotel bar and café make extensive use of brass and metal mesh ceiling and curtains, alluding to the specialist craft and light industrial workshops of the area’s past.
The club lounge opens up to an internal seven-storey glass canopied atrium and allows for views of the historic Grade I & II listed facades of St Johns Square. The warmer colour palette and a selection of soft hued furnishings offer remote working or lunch break refuge for the surrounding design and tech firms’ urban nomads.
The guest room design is based on the style of first-class airplane cabins where everything has its place, thanks to an efficient design and use of technology, reducing the boring aspects of hotel interactions. Check-in is automated, assistance is online, access to the compact but very comfortable and luxuriously equipped rooms is without keys.
