Blue Mountain School concept space in Shoreditch, London

Cult Shoreditch store Hostem founders, James Brown and Christie Fels, launch their latest project, the Blue Mountain School, designed by 6a architects. Photography: Lewis Ronald

(Image credit: Lewis Ronald)

By Emma O'Kelly

last updated 7 October 2022

Blue Mountain School is the latest offering from James Brown and Christie Fels, founders of cult Shoreditch store Hostem. When the new space opens next month, it will offer immaculately curated fashion, dining, music, design and art spread across six floors on the site of the former Hostem on Redchurch Street.

‘Retail in its current form is dead,’ claims Brown, who has eschewed clothes on rails in favour of a Hostem Archive which houses garments, ceramics, art and objects in a double-height “viewing room”. Here, pieces from the likes of London weaver Amy Revier, US furniture designer Tyler Hays and French artist Alexis Gautier are on permanent rotation and new objects and those from the entire Hostem archive will be added over time.

Since founding Hostem almost a decade ago, and New Road Residence, a private inn in Whitechapel in 2016, Brown and Fels have built a healthy network of collaborators. They worked with London architects 6a to create the Blue Mountain School space, and 6a in turn worked with perfumer Lyn Harris to create the Perfumer H atelier on the lower ground floor, where bespoke and seasonal fragrances are sold in hand-blown bottles. Two floors up is Hays, who designed a room filled with furniture and garments from his BDDW and M.Crow labels.

At the heart of Blue Mountain School is Mãos – a kitchen and dining room founded by chef Nuno Mendes with Brown, executive chef of Chiltern Firehouse and the chef patron of Taberna do Mercado. Lucky diners get to sample his latest three-hour tasting menu. On the second floor are gallery spaces for rotating exhibitions. Select invitees will make up to Grace’s – the rooftop listening room. Here guests can get away from it all, and relax on a wisteria-covered terrace and soak up tunes supplied Low Company. On the third and fourth floors Maastricht designer Valentin Loellmann has designed an immersive space, incorporating one-off furniture pieces and a suspended copper staircase.

Rendering of Blue Mountain School — Rendering of the design by 6a architects. *Image: 6a architects*

The space will host fashion, dining, music, design and art, say Brown and Fels, pictured here

In the new space, the team has eschewed clothes on rails in favour of a ‘Hostem Archive’, which houses garments, ceramics, art and objects in a double-height ‘viewing room’. *Image: 6a architects*

Spanning six floors, Blue Mountain School will sit on the site of the former Hostem on Redchurch Street

6a worked with perfumer Lyn Harris to create the Perfumer H atelier on the lower ground floor, where bespoke and seasonal fragrances are sold in hand-blown bottles

Interiors at the Blue Mountain School in London — Completed interiors at the Blue Mountain School in London. *Photography: Lewis Ronald*

INFORMATION

For more information visit the 6a architects' website and Blue Mountain School's website

Topics

London Uk Commercial Architecture

Emma O'Kelly is a contributing editor at Wallpaper*. She joined the magazine on issue 4 as news editor and since since then has worked in full and part time roles across many editorial departments. She is a freelance journalist based in London and works for a range of titles from Condé Nast Traveller to The Telegraph. She is currently working on a book about Scandinavian sauna culture and is renovating a mid century house in the Italian Lakes.

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