London & South East

Morton Hotel

Morton Hotel Exterior, London

The Morton Hotel, part of the Imperial London Hotels chain, has been impressively designed and contains an array of references to the inspirational Bloomsbury Group.

The Bloomsbury Group comprise a set of associated English writers, intellectuals, artists and philosophers which were prevalent during the second half of the 20th century.

Works began on site during 2012 and involved an extensive refurbishment and redevelopment of the structure; the development was completed and opened by the summer of 2013. With five floors and 34rooms, the hotel offers a unique experience for visiting guests.

Walking through the original entrance hall of the hotel, guests are greeted by a splendid Morton mosaic, antique mirror and several striking decorative prints. A lift on this floor descends to the reception where guests can check in; as well as have a few drinks and light snacks in the bar area. Throughout the hotel guests can see the literary references and paintings referencing the Bloomsbury Group.

Morton Hotel Bedroom, London

Adam Ellis Ltd, a design company which worked on the Morton Hotel project, provide services focused on identity design for commercial spaces, involving graphic, interior and product design. During the development the design firm brought some direction to the design concept behind the hotel. The interior, based on the Bloomsbury Group, consists of many particular fabrics and materials as well as eight different types of bespoke wallpaper utilised in the bedrooms.

Adam Ellis, the Managing Director said:

“I’ve worked with the team at the Morton Hotel for a little while, and I have worked with a number of hotels particularly in a design capacity sourcing fixtures and fittings and in some cases, actually creating bespoke pieces of artwork. When I joined the project the architects drawings were complete so it was a case of adding the heart and soul with the dressing of the interior.”

Morton Hotel Library, London

There was a huge effort to try and preserve some of the original Victorian features such as the large fireplaces, fitting with the character of the hotel. In terms of the interior design the biggest challenge for the team was to adapt to working with the space provided. The team needed to create space for bathrooms whilst maintaining the correct proportions within the bedrooms.

Originally Morton was going to take the shape of an apartment hotel; however this plan was altered to more of a traditional concept. The hotel offers a tasty Continental breakfast for guests, served in the basement bar which also provides cocktails and other delicious drinks, snacks and traditional afternoon tea. The basement has a bar-library feel, with armchairs and lots of fabric materials, exposed brick and an array of decorative pictures to embellish the room. There are several books and games for guests to enjoy.

The beautiful boutique bedrooms are modern and comfortable, luxuriously furnished with carved headboards and dark wooden flooring as well as lovely colourful carpets, giving them a sense of relaxation and heritage. The bathrooms have well-sized baths and the space has been utilised well.

Morton Hotel Library, London

Adam added:

“It was a terrific project opportunity to be involved with; in terms of working with the identity of the development, graphic design work and looking at how the Bloomsbury theme began and rolling this through the entire scheme. It was exciting to end up with a very coherent and consistent result stemming from the Bloomsbury set.”

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Roma Publications