The Ace Hotel, located in Shoreditch, London was designed by Universal Design Studio who have done many projects internationally that include; Architecture, Retail, Hospitality, Cultural and Workplace design.
“Universal Design Studio were approached by Ace to design their first hotel outside of the USA. Located in London’s Shoreditch, the scheme comprises of 265 guest rooms and the lounge/reception area with retail units, bar, café and art gallery.
The ambition was to discover the authentic voice of both Shoreditch and the property, exploring the hotel’s potential to embed itself within the fabric of the neighbourhood and nurture the local culture. Collaborating with local vendors, consultants and manufacturers, placemaking was a central theme in ensuring that the final space was “of London, and for London” (Alex Calderwood, co-founder of Ace).
Set within a neighbourhood with a storied history of culture, industry and craftsmanship, the interior design strongly echoes its East London surroundings.”
(Universal Design Studio)
The materials of the building give it pleasant, almost industrial, yet beautiful aesthetic to the building that fits right in to the busy city of London and its architecture.
The Hotel Lobby
The Ace hotel lobby is used as a vibrant informal hot desking work space in London’s busy Shoreditch. It is a place where people can just come, sit down with their laptop and work for as long as they like in a comfortable environment with nearby access to other facilities such as a bar and restaurant.
The Bar and Lounge
The Ace hotel bar and lounge provides an excellent hospitality service to both its guests and the people that visit the hotels lobby to work.
The Rooms
These contemporary hotel rooms and suites provide guests with a comfortable modern place to sleep and live while staying in Shoreditch, London.
(All images are the property of Universal Design Studio)
For more information about the design project, please visit the Universal Design Studio website:
http://www.universaldesignstudio.com/portfolio/ace-hotel-london/
And the Ace Hotel website:
Why is the Ace Hotel a good Precedent for my Design Project?
So in essence, yes the Ace is a “Hotel”, however, it also provides business and hospitality facilities. Business facilities in the form of the informal lobby work space and the 7th floor events floor – which will be the focus of my next blog post. And hospitality in the form of the bar and lounge, the restaurant, the basement nightclub and the florist retail that is available to the guests, work space users and public. It is therefore a mixed use building, although yes it does consist mainly of hotel accommodation, it has other uses which suggest the relationship between business and hospitality. And this is why it is the ideal precedent for my design project.
I have actually visited the Ace Hotel and the lobby was buzzing as an informal work space and this is one of the real spaces that inspired my final design project.
Programme – As discussed above, it is the programme of the building that makes it a good precedent for my final design project. I have a similar programme on a much smaller scale, my programme consists of business and hospitality elements – informal hot desking work spaces, more formal or private work spaces, bars, restaurant, cafe, retail, spa, overnight accommodation.
Seating – The Ace hotel uses different types of seating in the informal lobby work space and this is important as it gives the users of the space the opportunity to choose where and how they would like to sit and work. In my informal working area, I would like to do this also, by combining chairs and sofas, etc.
Please keep an eye out for Part 2 of the Ace Hotel relating to the 7th Floor Events Floor, later this evening.
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