Announcing the FX Awards 2019 Winners!

Hotel

Winner: Nobu Hotel London by Ben Adams Architects

Hotel  Winner: Nobu Hotel London by Ben Adams ArchitectsImage Credit: Nicholas Worley

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Occupying a tight urban plot, Nobu Hotel follows the line of the street, and accents its strong linear form with horizontal steel and concrete fins at each floor level. A playful, informal grid of board-marked concrete panels and full-height glazing expresses the range of activities contained within the hotel, dematerialising at its sloping southern end to give sculptural presence to a lush, sunken pocket park.

Nobu requires that all its buildings reflect their immediate context. This design marries the creative energy of the location with Nobu’s values of simple luxury. The palette of concrete, bronze, timber and glass, overlaid with creative textiles and warm fabrics creates a simple, considered and raw aesthetic that sits happily among Shoreditch’s reworked warehouses and factories.

This combination of industrial grit with rich natural materials seamlessly links the double-height bar and restaurant in the hotel basement and the adjoined landscaped garden. Sliding bamboo screens sandwiched within glazed cladding give flexible degrees of privacy to the suites that overlook the sunken garden. Some 150 bedrooms occupy its upper floors, with spacious rooms supplemented by a balcony.

Ben Adams Architects took over the beginnings of the project from Ron Arad. The team looked beyond the brief and explored the possibilities of the space; its untapped potential to engage visitors and the public, both inside the building and out. The hotel welcomes design enthusiasts and aesthete travellers. Combining local authenticity, material sophistication and integrated urban design it cements its place in east London’s evolving cultural and architectural landscape.

The judges said...
‘A very unique and meticulously detailed building’

Finalists & Judges’ Comments

Kasiiya Papagayo Costa Rica by AW2 Paris
‘A highly admirable project. If ever an example was needed of a building that touches the earth lightly this would be it’

Puro Kraków Kazimierz by Conran + Partners
‘There is a relaxed, unfussiness to the design and where the commissioning and installation of art has been integral to the design’

Vintry & Mercer by Dexter Moren Associates
‘A beautiful collection of public areas that have been carefully curated and combined, especially the roof terrace, which is gorgeously appointed’

Mansions Design Inn by Jade Simple Design
‘Stunning design, meticulous attention to detail’

Dali Hotel Yunnan by Jiutang Space Design
‘This is a beautiful, highly sophisticated hotel utilising seemingly simple elements and a consistent, refined range of materials’

Fraser Suites Hamburg by JOI-Design Innenarchitekten A D joehnk + partner
‘Elegant design, beautiful colour palette’

Michelberger Hotel by Jonathan Tuckey Design
‘The design of this hotel has a character all of its own. It is distinctively of its time but in the same instance sits very naturally within the historic fabric of the building’

Hotel Oriental Express Tokyo Kamata by Katagiri Architecture + Design / One Designs
‘Clever use of materials creates an inviting space that also manages to capture a symbolic industrial atmosphere as intended’

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