Hilton Canary Wharf, London

The full service Hilton London Canary Wharf takes the brand’s reputation for world-class amenities, service and business/conference facilities to a new level. It opened at South Quay and features fitted bedroom furniture manufactured by O’Donnell Furniture, one of Europe’s best-known manufacturers of bespoke hotel bedroom furniture.

Following Jestico + Whiles design concepts and contemporary style approach, this 283-bedroom 14-storey hotel is intended to be a tranquil refuge at the heart of London’s buzzing commercial Canary Wharf centre. Simple, natural and contrasting materials, including stone, glass and slate, have been used throughout the reception, lobby, bars and restaurant areas to achieve a cool, relaxing ambience.

The quality and style of the main public areas is carried through into all the bedrooms (203 standard, 55 executive, 24 suites and one Presidential Suite) with the primary use of dark stained oak furniture and a huge amount of attention to detail.

Working closely with the designers and teams from architects EPR and contractors Laing O’Rourke, the entire hotel fit-out was co-ordinated by FF&E procurement and project management specialists, Room Facilities of Reading. Over the last year, Room Facilities has provided a complete turnkey solution for the project, dealing with suppliers, sourcing quotes and samples, handling the tender and selection process, and overseeing the final installation.

For the casegoods fit-out of the guestrooms and suites, Bradley Foot of Room Facilities explained: “We short-listed several manufacturers. All were judged on experience and past performance; their manufacturing ability and production capacity; their individual industry profile; and final product price.”

O’Donnells won through this stringent selection process and the items they were then asked to supply included wardrobes, headboards and bedside cabinets, credenzas, desks, bed frames, tall mirrors, desk mirrors and shelf-units.

In keeping with the use of contrasting materials and textures in the rest of the building, O’Donnells were tasked with producing some important items with specific design refinements. Bradley explains: “Today’s hospitality environments demand innovation and flexibility. For example, there are extra requirements to cater for when a hotel bedroom’s specification includes latest technology business communications and leisure necessities such as plasma TVs, games consoles and sound systems. So while O’Donnells’ craftsmen work with the traditional materials of solid woods, veneers and inlays, we know that we can also trust them to produce practical answers to designs that incorporate such materials as metal, glass, lighting, stone and plastic. In the case of the Hilton London Canary Wharf, the designers wanted to set the bedroom styles apart with a Blue colour scheme featuring Brown leather wallpaper for the Standard rooms and a Red scheme for the Executive rooms and Suites with Green leather wallpaper.”

O’Donnells helped achieve this wow-factor in the bedrooms by producing all the headboards in a frame that contained a Blue or Red coloured panel. They also included a Brown or Green leather wallpaper section within the headboard and completed the item with the inclusion of a lightbox over the coloured panel. In addition, semi-transparent timber screens were made and supplied along with custom-made coloured handles.

“Overall,” summed up Bradley, “O’Donnells delivered high quality and stylish bedroom casegoods to an exacting standard of workmanship right on time.”

Designers: Jestico + Whiles

Architects: EPR Architects

Builders: Laing O'Rourke

FF&E Procurement: Room Facilities

Number of Bedrooms: 283

Items Supplied: Wardrobe, Headboard, Bedside Cabinets, Credenza, Desk, Bed Frame, Tall Mirror, Desk Mirror, Shelf-Units.

Finishes: Dark Stained Oak