room2 Chiswick sets a new green standard for hotel design
Bringing a whole new sense of green living to the hospitality industry, new hometel, room2 Chiswick steps away from polished neat interiors and instead offers a relaxed setting that feels real to the touch with genuine connection to craftsmanship and community. Inspired by the spirit of Chiswick’s 19th century arts and crafts heritage and recognising the climate situation, room2 Chiswick, the world’s first whole life net zero hotel, combines handcrafted local design with much reduced environmental impact, proving that style doesn't come at the expense of the environment.
As guests enter the hotel, they’re welcomed by reclaimed terracotta floors in the lobby, covered in locally sourced plants, inspired by Kew Gardens greenhouses. The plants sit beneath reclaimed pendant lights to offer guests a green oasis from the bustling street outside. The entrance area pays homage to William Morris’s iconic Red House, with 100% natural exposed concrete slabs and handmade tiles.
The corridors are lined with unique carpets made from plastic fishnets collected from the ocean. Other bespoke features include handmade mosaic signs on each bedroom door which were manufactured by local designer Janita OToole in lockdown, and a hand-crafted coffee table which features artwork from a local artisan, helping to boost the local economy. The bedrooms are all fitted with extra touches, such as dried flowers and handmade bits and bobs boxes. The hometels interior designer House of Dre describes the building:
"The exposed concrete slabs, bricks and blocks bring an unfussy informality which is key to the room2 brand. The hardness of the shell is interspersed with fresh pops of arabescato marble and striped fabrics. Anchoring the space, the reclaimed antique Elm bar front was inspired by the ancient Japanese yakisugi process, creating a dark visual style and uniquely tactile feel. It’s about bringing a roughness and a realness to a commercial space that is akin to a domestic environment."
Through procurement agency Dodd & Shute, each piece of furniture has been carefully selected to avoid hindering the environment, many of which also promote a circular economy beyond the current useful life. All the loose bespoke furniture, along with the headboards and banquettes have been manufactured within 10 miles of the property using Forest Stewardship Council (FSC) timber and a total of 4,462 trees were planted to offset the carbon of all the furniture used.
Throughout the hometel, guests are surrounded by bespoke handcrafted pieces by a carefully selected group of designers that include:
Roberta Fox - Roberta is a local artist based in Chiswick, who created unique and vibrant artwork for the guest bedrooms, aligning with the bold palette of room2. Encouraging emerging talent in the area, her work has also been framed with FSC certified materials made in the UK.
Granby Workshop - Granby Workshop’s handmade ceramic tiles are found in every bathroom, and on a blue communal table that sits in the property’s lounge area. The edges are left exposed to show the depth of the veining running through tiles and no one tile in the entire hotel is the same as another. Based in Manchester, Granby Workshop offer a modern day nod to the Victorian love of encaustic tiles and stand as an example of a present day craft success story.
Maiden Marbling – The woman behind the hotel’s signature bespoke marbled print wallpaper found all over the hotel. Created by Rachel Maiden, the unique wallpaper was then printed by Vescom whose factories all run on renewable energy.
Petronella Hall - Award-winning interior design brand Petronella Hall’s hand-sketched wallpaper featuring intricate dancing human bodies is featured in half of the guest bathrooms.
Slow Down Studio – The fun and colourful artwork and bedroom throws created by Slow Down Studio can be found in each room and dotted around the hotel, and are made from 80% recyclable cotton.
Kieran Letts - Each hand-crafted Dali-esque mirror, created by London based artist Kieran Letts, uses UK timber and a steam bending process. Guests can find these characterful wonky looking mirrors in the marble covered lift and in all of the in-room bathrooms.
Alfred Newall - Nestled within the lobby, guests will find the jungle booth, a small tabled seating area, featuring Alfred Newall’s handcrafted mirror. Forming part of his Bobbin collection, Newall combines modern colours in a twist on historic design lineage.
As the first hotel in the world to fully account for its entire carbon footprint, making it ‘whole life net zero’, the colourful room2 Chiswick hometel has a multitude of sustainable efforts under its belt. Reducing energy demand through design, room2 Chiswick uses ultra-energy efficient lighting, occupancy sensors across the building, solar panels and ground source heat pumps, which convert 100% of the energy needed for heating, cooling and hot water. Other sustainable initiatives include a blue roof, which can hold up to 50,000 litres of rainwater to reduce localised flooding and a green roof, boasting soil and wildflowers to increase biodiversity and absorb CO2. room2 Chiswick is also zero waste to landfill, and one of the first hotels to separate food waste from mixed packaging in custom-made in-room recycling bins.
Branded as a place to live, not just to stay, guests can expect a relaxed and informal experience at room2 Chiswick. Whether staying for two nights or two months, room2 Chiswick has created a thoughtfully designed environment for a living experience that suits everyone. With fully equipped kitchenettes, mattress menu and full 24-hour stay, room2 allows guests to personalise their visit and stay more comfortably for longer. The new hometel also offers a laundry room, gym with Peloton equipment, as well as an independently run café by day and cocktail bar by night specialising in locally sourced organic food, coffee, and wine.
Rooms at room2 Chiswick start from £129 per night for 2 people staying in a snug room. For more information, please visit www.room2.com/chiswick/.
room2 Chiswick is offering a special introductory 25% discount available on all reservations taking place from 1st December 2021 to 28th Feb 2022.
About Lamington Serviced Apartments
Lamington Group is an independent family-owned real estate investment and development company, which was founded in the 1960s and is based in West London. Led by Managing Director Robert Godwin, the group has made the commitment to only build and operate to whole life net zero standards for any new properties that started being developed after the launch of their net zero roadmap in September 2021. Lamington Group has a family of brands comprising room2; Lamington Apartments; Lamington Developments; Lamington Lettings and Missionworks, the first foray into co-working spaces.
