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 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
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
-
The Sialia 45 cruiser is a welcome addition to the new generation of electric boatsPolish shipbuilder Sialia Yachts has launched the Sialia 45, a 14m all-electric cruiser for silent running
-
Tokyo design studio We+ transforms microalgae into coloursCould microalgae be the sustainable pigment of the future? A Japanese research project investigates
-
What to see at London Craft Week 2025With London Craft Week just around the corner, Wallpaper* rounds up the must-see moments from this year’s programme
-
A new London house delights in robust brutalist detailing and diffused lightLondon's House in a Walled Garden by Henley Halebrown was designed to dovetail in its historic context
-
A Sussex beach house boldly reimagines its seaside typologyA bold and uncompromising Sussex beach house reconfigures the vernacular to maximise coastal views but maintain privacy
-
This 19th-century Hampstead house has a raw concrete staircase at its heartThis Hampstead house, designed by Pinzauer and titled Maresfield Gardens, is a London home blending new design and traditional details
-
An octogenarian’s north London home is bold with utilitarian authenticityWoodbury residence is a north London home by Of Architecture, inspired by 20th-century design and rooted in functionality
-
What is DeafSpace and how can it enhance architecture for everyone?DeafSpace learnings can help create profoundly sense-centric architecture; why shouldn't groundbreaking designs also be inclusive?
-
The dream of the flat-pack home continues with this elegant modular cabin design from KotoThe Niwa modular cabin series by UK-based Koto architects offers a range of elegant retreats, designed for easy installation and a variety of uses
-
Are Derwent London's new lounges the future of workspace?Property developer Derwent London’s new lounges – created for tenants of its offices – work harder to promote community and connection for their users
-
Showing off its gargoyles and curves, The Gradel Quadrangles opens in OxfordThe Gradel Quadrangles, designed by David Kohn Architects, brings a touch of playfulness to Oxford through a modern interpretation of historical architecture
