design et al are delighted to announce that Studio Mica have been shortlisted for Hotel Under 200 Rooms – Global Award in The International Hotel and Property Awards 2018.
Nobu Hotel Shoreditch is a new building designed by Ron Arad Architects. It is a contemporary hotel of 8,410sqm built over seven floors with 148 guest rooms, reception, lounge and cocktail bar, restaurant, external garden and terraces, spa and gym and conference facilities. The brief given to Studio Mica was for the interior design of the new Nobu Hotel Shoreditch. The service was to include interior architecture, interior design including furniture, fixtures and primary operating supplies and equipment. The scope of their involvement was defined as brief analysis, space and circulation planning, interior design for front of house and all guest facing facilities including the entrance, reception, bar, lounge, spa, gym, conference rooms, terraced garden, guest rooms and suites.
The new building is located in the east end of London in Shoreditch and had received planning permission before Studio Mica were appointed to the project. The designers worked closely with the client and architect to plan the number and type of guest rooms and suites in order to comply with the business plan. Studio Mica also developed the strategy for suiting rooms and wings on each floor. The designers were required to develop a holistic interior design concept for the new hotel and follow it through from inception to completion and beyond. This included working closely with the architect and other consultants and generally taking the lead over all fundamental aspects of the interior design.
The brief and therefore Studio Mica’s concept aimed to combine four cultural traits; an international hotel rooted in an American restaurant with a renowned Japanese Chef and located in a creative quarter of London. The hotel was to reflect these traits with an integrated and subtle approach that would enhance the Nobu brand ethos of simple sophistication and attract national and international guests to the spirited Nobu Shoreditch experience. The operator’s aim was to have a hotel that was different from its other hotels. The reception of the hotel was to include a bar and lounge that would connect directly to the conference rooms at entrance level and access circulation to guest rooms, the spa gym and the restaurant. It was to be current, tranquil and contemplative and act as a foil to the high energy artistic buzz of Shoreditch.
The guest rooms were to be contemporary, restrained and meditative with a hint of luxury. Studio Mica chose to take full advantage of the architecture including the post-tensioned concrete ceilings and the full height floor to ceiling glazing. Each room was to be designed to enable two guests to dine in them. The suites are sited at the east end of the building, each with a private external balcony. The interiors were designed to exploit the dynamic concrete structure of the building and to build on the design principles developed for the hotel interiors to create seven suites each unique in its own way. The Interior design scheme was expected to lightly engage with the Nobu Japanese ethos and provide guests with a sophisticated and serene oasis in the midst of a hectic and exuberant district of London.
Nobu Hotel Shoreditch was a unique opportunity for Studio Mica. The studio is based local to the project, the designers have a personal and a professional connection with Shoreditch and its communities, and they have an excellent relationship with the client and a background founded on interior design for boutique and international hotels. This project sparked off their full creative commitment. Studio Mica feel that they have met their own and their clients aspirations and that the interiors of Nobu Hotel Shoreditch is the full realisation of their concepts, ideas, work and design.