Ace Hotel London was set within a neighbourhood that had a storied history of culture and industry. The design focused on craftsmanship, embedding the space within its historic context of Shoreditch. Engaging local vendors, consultants and manufacturers was a way of ensuring the hotel was 'of London, and for London'.

The door handle at the entrance to the hotel is the first touchpoint for anyone visiting the space. For us, this was a pivotal moment to engage on one of our key themes - the locality and in this instance, the bike culture that is prevalent in and around Shoreditch and east London more broadly.

Our custom cork ceiling for the lobby space was adorned with 59 surface mounted copper lights. Based on a simple shade and bulb, the pendant required an LED bulb for efficiency. As this did not throw light back onto the cork ceiling, we added an LED strip above each shade to create a soft glow that recreated the effect of a standard bulb.

The desired finish of the shade was an aged finish. To achieve this we undertook a prototyping and development phase that allowed for the resulting patina finish and to integrate the two types of light source. We also designed a matching floor and wall light version with a triangular cast iron base.

Bespoke bar stools and the welded lead bar cladding were designed and handmade by London designer Max Lamb. For the bar cladding Max was inspired by a father and son architectural metalwork team (Terry and Nicky Fisher) who repaired his own roof. The cladding was made by Max in his workshop as an apprentice under the guidance of Terry and Nick.

Hand woven textiles created under the art direction of Atelier Ace were developed and made by Dovecot Studio, a world-renowned tapestry studio in Edinburgh which was established in 1912.

Lace from MYB Scotland, commissioned by Universal, was used for the cafe (the only producer in the world manufacturing patterned lace with original Nottingham Lace Looms, some of which are over 90 years old).