A room in the Nobu Hotel Shoreditch. The room is decorated in various shades of gray - walls, carpet, and bedside tables are in lighter gray, while the armchair and a small coffee table are in darker gray. The headboard is painted gold. Floor-to-ceiling windows cover the far wall.
(Image credit: Will Pryce)

Judging by the hoopla surrounding the opening of Nobuyuki Matsuhisa’s debut hotel in London’s heaving Shoreditch quarter – actually, his first in Europe – the cache of his celebrated name is clearly undiminished.

Initially designed by Ron Arad and completed by Ben Adams, the cantilevered steel beams of the five-storey building give the impression of a sleek mega-yacht in full sail. Inside, London-based Studio Mica has layered a calm Japanese aesthetic over the concrete, glass fibre and steel. Each of the 156 rooms features a quiet palette of slatted shoji screens, stylised watercolour walls by Hackney-based artist Sichi, and herringboned headboards, alongside bathrooms which include custom-designed basins by Laufen.

Flanked by an enclosed courtyard and terraces, the ground floor Studio PCH-designed Nobu restaurant is headed by Greg Seregi who turns out Hokkaido scallops with foie gras, and seabass with yuzu, tomato and cucumber salsa, and black truffles.

A room in the Nobu Hotel Shoreditch. The room is decorated in various shades of gray - walls, carpet, and bedside tables are in lighter gray, while the armchair and a small coffee table are in darker gray. The headboard is painted gold, as well as the mini bar across from the bed. Floor-to-ceiling windows cover the far wall.

(Image credit: Will Pryce)

A room in the Nobu Hotel Shoreditch. The room is decorated in various shades of gray and brown- walls, carpet, and bedside tables are in lighter gray, while the armchair is in deep golden brown. The headboard is painted gold, with a rounded table next to the bed, which has food and vine on it. Floor-to-ceiling windows cover the far wall.

(Image credit: Will Pryce)

A bathroom in the Nobu Hotel Shoreditch. All white bathroom, with an open shower, a gold bathroom sink, and faucets.

(Image credit: Will Pryce)

ADDRESS

10-50 Willow Street

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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.