Locke at Broken Wharf — London, UK

The four-year-old Locke brand is yet more proof, if you still need convincing, that the classic model of the hotel is on its last legs. In its place is an intriguing, ever-evolving hybrid that feels as if you’re staying at the home of your stylish, well-connected BFF.
Locke’s latest offering is set near London’s St Paul’s Cathedral, its sunlit rooms looking out across the Thames to the Tate Modern. Touched with smoked glass, copper and chrome, its public rooms and 113 studios – available for short or long stays – are the work of Grzywinski+Pons, the New York-based studio lavishing the cavernous open plan spaces in a pastel palette of deeply set, comfy sofas, potted plants, private nooks, and plenty of good lighting for the co-working tribes.
In addition to yoga, meditation and HIIT classes, guests have the option to stay in and cook up simple meals (cookbooks are available to borrow), though less ambitious types will pick up ready-made salads, sandwiches and cocktails from in-house Deli Cat & Sons.
Locke is so bullish about its brand that it’s opening two more London outposts later this year in Bermondsey and Dalston, to add to the current stable in East London, Manchester and Edinburgh.
ADDRESS
2 Broken Wharf
Receive our daily digest of inspiration, escapism and design stories from around the world direct to your inbox.
Daven Wu is the Singapore Editor at Wallpaper*. A former corporate lawyer, he has been covering Singapore and the neighbouring South-East Asian region since 1999, writing extensively about architecture, design, and travel for both the magazine and website. He is also the City Editor for the Phaidon Wallpaper* City Guide to Singapore.
-
Café Kitsuné x Iittala bring Nordic clarity to the coffee ritual
Finnish design house Iittala unites its modernist aesthetic with Café Kitsuné’s refined simplicity for a new mug collection, available in four colours
-
Tiffany & Co’s artist mentorship at Frieze London puts creative exchange centre stage
At Frieze London 2025, Tiffany & Co partners with the fair’s Artist-to-Artist initiative, expanding its reach and reaffirming the value of mentorship within the global art community
-
'They're like my friends:’ Max Lamb exhibits a decade of chairs in a former church hall
The British designer’s new London show, ‘Exercises in Seating 3' (until 2 November 2025), brings together over 30 diverse works in a circle of connection
-
Community and culture coincide at Mount Street Neighbourhood Arts Festival
With this year’s theme focused on art and books, expect to see various literary moments around the Mayfair address
-
Refreshed China Tang at The Dorchester remains a love letter to 1930s Shanghai
Twenty years since it first opened, the beloved Cantonese restaurant in London has been subtly reinvigorated, pairing Haipai style with cosmopolitan decadence for milestones yet to come
-
A sculptural reimagining of hospitality takes over the Mandarin Oriental Mayfair
The Mayfair Design District has curated a tactile exploration of nature and form across the quietly sumptuous London hotel
-
Labombe by Trivet reinvents an unforgettable Cool Britannia hangout
Is London hospitality about to hit peak 1990s revival? The Como Metropolitan has unveiled a new dining room on the site of the former Met Bar
-
Wallpaper* checks in at the wonderfully unfussy Swan Inn, Fittleworth
As the night’s draw in, this cosy English inn deep in the Sussex countryside beckons
-
The world’s largest capsule hotel opens in the heart of London
With nearly 1,000 capsules across five floors, Zedwell Capsule Hotel Piccadilly Circus promise cocoon-like calm above the city’s loudest square
-
Ministry of Sound embraces theatrical brutalism with its new members’ bar
Studio A-nrd dresses the south London superclub’s new No Velvet Rope Society in tactile layers and stark details
-
St. John and the London Book Review’s new café makes for a delicious pairing
St John’s new bookshop-based café will offer tasty delights from the bakery, to enjoy at the table or take away. Bookmark this perfect spot for reading, eating and book browsing