Blue Mountain School is the latest offering from James Brown and Christie Fels, founders of cult Shoreditch store Hostem. When the new space opens next month, it will offer immaculately curated fashion, dining, music, design and art spread across six floors on the site of the former Hostem on Redchurch Street.
‘Retail in its current form is dead,’ claims Brown, who has eschewed clothes on rails in favour of a Hostem Archive which houses garments, ceramics, art and objects in a double-height “viewing room”. Here, pieces from the likes of London weaver Amy Revier, US furniture designer Tyler Hays and French artist Alexis Gautier are on permanent rotation and new objects and those from the entire Hostem archive will be added over time.
Since founding Hostem almost a decade ago, and New Road Residence, a private inn in Whitechapel in 2016, Brown and Fels have built a healthy network of collaborators. They worked with London architects 6a to create the Blue Mountain School space, and 6a in turn worked with perfumer Lyn Harris to create the Perfumer H atelier on the lower ground floor, where bespoke and seasonal fragrances are sold in hand-blown bottles. Two floors up is Hays, who designed a room filled with furniture and garments from his BDDW and M.Crow labels.
At the heart of Blue Mountain School is Mãos – a kitchen and dining room founded by chef Nuno Mendes with Brown, executive chef of Chiltern Firehouse and the chef patron of Taberna do Mercado. Lucky diners get to sample his latest three-hour tasting menu. On the second floor are gallery spaces for rotating exhibitions. Select invitees will make up to Grace’s – the rooftop listening room. Here guests can get away from it all, and relax on a wisteria-covered terrace and soak up tunes supplied Low Company. On the third and fourth floors Maastricht designer Valentin Loellmann has designed an immersive space, incorporating one-off furniture pieces and a suspended copper staircase.
Rendering of the design by 6a architects. Image: 6a architects
The space will host fashion, dining, music, design and art, say Brown and Fels, pictured here
In the new space, the team has eschewed clothes on rails in favour of a ‘Hostem Archive’, which houses garments, ceramics, art and objects in a double-height ‘viewing room’. Image: 6a architects
Spanning six floors, Blue Mountain School will sit on the site of the former Hostem on Redchurch Street
6a worked with perfumer Lyn Harris to create the Perfumer H atelier on the lower ground floor, where bespoke and seasonal fragrances are sold in hand-blown bottles
Completed interiors at the Blue Mountain School in London. Photography: Lewis Ronald
INFORMATION
For more information visit the 6a architects' website and Blue Mountain School's website
-
‘It is a collaborative adventure, not a service provision’: Ilse Crawford on design as a tool for advancement and enhancementDesigner Ilse Crawford, founder of Studio Ilse and a revered shapeshifter in the industry, reflects on design in 2025 and finds cause for optimism
-
Meet Daniel Blumberg, the British indie rock veteran who created The Brutalist’s scoreBAFTA-nominated Blumberg has created an epic score for Brady Corbet’s film The Brutalist, in cinemas this week; listen here
-
China’s Alila Shanghai hotel is a stylish hub of idle tranquillityAlila Shanghai, the brand's first urban resort in Greater China, is a serene bolthole amidst the pulse of the Jing'an district
-
This revamped east London terraced house is a music lover’s dreamAn east London terraced house gets a boost of personality and sustainability thanks to Archmongers, whose transformation makes room for the owners’ creativity and extensive record collection
-
This elegant infill project slots beautifully into the London streetscapeIn this infill project, a row of garages in Blackheath, south-east London, has been replaced by a contemporary family home by local practice Mailen Design
-
Don’t Move, Improve 2025: the 14 London homes adding design oomph to the everydayThe shortlist for Don’t Move, Improve 2025 has been announced, revealing 14 residential projects across London that add value and pizazz to their inhabitants’ daily lives
-
Space House: explore the brutalist London landmark’s new chapterSpace House, a landmark of brutalist architecture by Richard Seifert & Partners in London’s Covent Garden, is back following a 21st-century redesign by Squire & Partners and developer Seaforth Land
-
Fire-damaged Walworth Town Hall shows off majestic transformationWalworth Town Hall gets a much-needed reimagining by Feix & Merlin, who transformed the heritage building into a contemporary workspace and a hub of its local community in south London
-
Hanif Kara on building materials, the transition from old to new, and a healthy dose of realismHanif Kara, co-founder of structural engineering practice AKT II, discusses building materials and the future of sustainability
-
Year in review: the top 12 houses of 2024, picked by architecture director Ellie StathakiThe top 12 houses of 2024 comprise our finest and most read residential posts of the year, compiled by Wallpaper* architecture & environment director Ellie Stathaki
-
A brutalist garden revived: the case of the Mountbatten House grounds by Studio Knight StokoeTour a brutalist garden redesign by Studio Knight Stokoe at Mountbatten House, a revived classic in Basingstoke, UK
