Built in the 1970’s, the 16 storey Sea Containers House was designed by the American architect, Warren Platner, creator of Windows on the World.
Originally designed as a luxury hotel, the building’s brief was never fulfilled and it instead was occupied as office. Among these was a shipping company Sea Container from which the building now draws its name. This maritime history and the Anglo-American relationship between Design Research Studio and Morgans Hotel Group, form the design inspiration for the project.
The hotel embodies the elegance of a transatlantic 1920’s liner. The main lobby features a giant, external and internal, copper clad wall inspired by the hull of a ship, running from outside the building and leads guests to the hotel lobby within.
The vast 1500 sqm ground floor area includes one river-side restaurant and a breakfast bar. Building on the extensive metal finishes already found in the building, a network of brass work runs throughout the hotel, feeding out to every corner, edging each bedroom door and eventually morphing into a cocktail bar on the roof top.
The roof-top bar, the Dandelyan, is edged with glass boasting views of the North and South of the city inspired by the top deck of a cruise liner. Designed with references to an ornate Art Deco-period ballroom, the bar features a statement lighting installation, adding an element of sophistication to the space.
Dandelyan, Mondrian London, London
Program: cocktail bar
Architects: Design Research Studio
Creative Direction: Tom Dixon
Client: Morgans Hotel Group
Completion: 2014