Lisbon hotel Locke de Santa Joana wins Wallpaper* Design Award 2025

Since the first Locke hotel opened in London nearly a decade ago, the design-led pioneer of short- and long-stay hospitality has grown to include 17 outposts across Europe, from Berlin to Paris. One of the latest to open is Locke de Santa Joana, housed in a 17th-century former convent in Lisbon, a city much-loved by digital nomads for its sunny disposition and lively street life. The design-savvy, urban resort offers spaces for co-working, play and rest right in the heart of the capital.

Locke de Santa Joana wins Best Opening at the Wallpaper* Design Awards 2025

Following Locke’s commitment to using different designers for their projects to ‘keep the brand fresh’, 370 rooms in natural tones come courtesy of New York-based Post Company. Sense of place comes from using local fabrics, ceramics from Lisbon’s Grau Cerâmica and period elements from the convent, such as blue and yellow azulejos (tiles), which are woven throughout the property’s four blocks. All but thirty of the rooms come with a well-equipped kitchen, with tables to eat at, teas from the Lisbon Tea Company and Drip Coffee. Showers, rather than tubs, are housed in dusky plum-coloured bathrooms. Those in search of something different should book the rooms in the old convent, where beds are framed by marble columns.

A big draw is the courtyard swimming pool with a sun terrace, but there is also an on-site museum showcasing artefacts found during the building’s restoration, co-working spaces and event venues, a 24/7 gym, and five restaurants and bars, operated by London-based hospitality incubators White Rabbit Projects and Spiritland. Designed by Lázaro Rosa-Violán, these take their cues from the building’s heritage with quirky details, such as the cutlery once used by the nuns hanging on the wall of Mediterranean restaurant Santa Marta.

Other highlights include the Portuguese brasserie Santa Joana, alongside a Japanese whiskey bar and a basement cocktail club hosting late-night DJ sets by local and global residencies. As Paul Noble and Sophie Uddin of Spiritland said of Locke’s listening bar, The Kissaten, where their private vinyl collections will be available (as well as a range of whisky curated by Dave Broom), ‘this is something for creative, Bohemian aficionados’. The same could be said of Locke de Santa Joana itself.

Locke de Santa Joana is located at R. Camilo Castelo Branco 18, 1150-084 Lisbon; lockeliving.com

Find more Wallpaper* Design Awards winners in the February 2025 issue of Wallpaper* is available in print on newsstands from 9 January 2025, on the Wallpaper* app on Apple iOS, and to subscribers of Apple News +. Subscribe to Wallpaper* today