Artful lodger: Dexter Moran Associates designs London's Vintry and Mercer

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London's Vintry & Mercer hotel takes its cues from its home in a 14th-century guild hall
A copy of the map of the world, created by engraver Gerard van Schagen in 1689, now features on the ceiling of the hotel's reading room. It took 380 hours to hand-embroider the hotel bar’s four bespoke images of the Ziegfeld Follies showgirls with 15,000 Swarovski crystals, 50,000 glass beads and 5,000 Swarovski pearls
(Image credit: press)

London’s ancient guilds may no longer be the powerful mercantile bodies they were once, but their influence continues to be felt in the British capital in unexpected ways.

Set between the 14th-century Vintry and Mercer guild halls, the newly minted Vintry & Mercer hotel effortlessly parses a new eight-storey build against the quarter’s old world patina and trade in wines and fabrics, and the looming bulk of the Shard.

Appropriately, Dexter Moran Associates have dressed the 92 rooms and public spaces in fine silk, textiles and leather, old trading maps and ceramic tiles, whilst subtly referencing the vast pastures that once surrounded the area with indoor plants and green hues. Warmer days will lure guests upstairs to the roof terrace’s charcoal oven, infused spirits, a farm-to-plate menu, and captivating views of St Paul’s Cathedral and the Southbank.

As evening falls, a retreat to Do Not Disturb, a subterranean speakeasy that takes its visual cues from 1920s New York, is entirely appropriate. 

London's Vintry & Mercer hotel takes its cues from its home in a 14th-century guild hall

1,500: Length in metres of the Designers Guild’s Varese velvet fabric used for guest room curtains, headboards and valances

(Image credit: press)

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Daven Wu

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.