Hop House – A hidden gem at Covent Garden
Tucked away in a tranquil spot in Covent Garden, Hop House presents elegance and relaxation amid London’s bustling West End. The residential project was built into an existing 1980s office block, transforming the space into something quite luxurious.
Comprising 29 apartments on five floors, with the penthouse on the fourth and fifth floors, the entire building presents a contemporary and stylish design, crafted around a ‘spa’ theme. From the open, spacious entrance and lobby to the stunningly appointed apartment interiors, the essence of beauty is continued throughout Hop House.
Conveniently located, Hop House is within close proximity to some of London’s finest shops, restaurants, bars and theatres, in addition to the globally famous Covent Garden Opera House. A short walk from the apartments leads to Soho, Piccadilly and Mayfair.
Award winning architects practice Brimelow McSweeney was responsible for the design and architectural aspects to the development, delivering a high quality result. The company specialises in mixed use urban sites where both innovative design and technical expertise are essential to delivering a successful development. A design led studio, Brimelow McSweeney has a clear understanding of its client’s commercial requirements.
Brimelow McSweeney’s experience includes residential, office, retail and leisure schemes. Over the last decade the company has earned an excellent reputation for delivering high quality buildings for both developers and end users. Brimelow provides a variety of services that include full architectural design, interior design, masterplanning and project management.
Sheila Eilenberg, Associate Director at Brimelow McSweeney, and Project Architect for the developments on Hop House, commented:
“We started the Enabling Works 2013, and completed the penthouse in summer 2015. The project involved a refurbishment to the space and a new build penthouse duplex, with a contract sum of £8m.
“The apartments are contemporary and plush in nature, with engineered timber flooring, painted walls and ceilings and porcelain tiles in the bathrooms.
“We also refurbished the façade to present a brand new look but enhanced the original form using a Viennese theme with a detail patterned relief and we have put a beautiful render with an incised Hop motive on it which has created the desired effect. The design has taken shape around the name ‘Hop House’ as the building is named after the Hop Gardens which sits adjacent to the building.
“On the ground floor we installed a new Portland Stone facade and a new curtain walling entrance, with attractive bay windows that add an eye-catching feature whilst also allowing lots of light into the building.”
With a range of one, two and three-bedrooms, the apartment block features brand new homes for individuals, couples and families. With style and comfort in mind, Hop House apartments are ideal for anybody who appreciates homely comforts along with a sense of stylishness and modern requirements.
“Working with an existing building, we still wanted to make it feel like a new build, because as people search for apartments, they want it to look really clean and neat and new; and we still wanted to get the basics right such as value for money and fairly spacious living spaces, bedrooms and storage.
“Space is always an issue in this type of development – that was probably our biggest challenge.”
Impressively, the development was awarded the 2015 Sunday Times British Homes Awards for best conversion of an existing building. Similarly, Hop House has been shortlisted for the RICS Awards 2016 for best new residential building in London. Sheila commented:
“We are very excited, we think that our design has really pushed forward good value for money in a way that we sought to do very thoroughly. It is a very luxurious and high-spec development but there is still a focus on comfort. The materials have been thoughtfully chosen, and there is a lovely feel to the apartment house.”
Curtain walling, windows and doors specialist, Ridlands undertook detailed design, fabrication and installation of the bespoke curtain walling, windows and doors on Hop House.
Matt Rodgers of Ridlands, said:
“This project was very important to us and is exactly the sort of challenging project we enjoy being involved in. We worked closely with the project team to achieve considered and complex detailing, the quality of which was clear in the end result.”
