I’ve always believed in the power of collaboration and more than that, creative conflict. That often it takes two opposites, like yin and yang, to create magic. Such is the case of the story of the making of the Town Hall Hotel & Apartments in London.
Marie Baxter still remembers the day in 2008 she called Singapore hotelier Loh Lik Peng with her find of the Town Hall building in Bethnal Green, in the East End of London. “I told him I’d found this marvellous old building and he’d like it for sure, and when he asked me where the location was, I mumbled it.”
She remembers mumbling it a few times because back then, Bethnal Green wasn’t exactly the most glorious of neighbourhoods – in fact, most Londoners would call it gritty and that’d be a polite term. She persuaded him to take the next flight to London. “You have to see it,” she insisted.
And she was right. Lik Peng, known for his love of restoring old buildings into boutique hotels, fell in love with it, met the then-owner and the deal was sealed pretty much on the spot.
The building is rather special. Opened in 1910, and extended during the 1930s, the building fell into disrepair in the 1980s and was used as location for movies such as Atonement, Snatch and Lock, Stock & Two Smoking Barrels.
Lik Peng, who will be speaking at WIT Europe in London on June 30, is also known for picking neighbourhoods that are on the verge of becoming fashionable. He did it with his first hotel in Singapore, Hotel 1929, taking an old shophouse in Keong Saik Road, the red light district of Chinatown, and converting it into Singapore’s first urban boutique hotel. Today, the area is flush with bars, cafes, restaurants and hotels.
He also did it in Sydney, taking over the Carlton Brewery in Chippendale, and spent four years refurbishing and converting it into The Old Clare Hotel, which is now the media darling of Sydney, winning awards for its hotel as well as food & beverage. His hotels and restaurants fall under the Unlisted Collection.
With Town Hall Hotel & Apartments, Lik Peng also seems to have struck gold although he downplays any claims of him being a visionary when it came to this property. “I would have done this even if this was much further out. The location didn’t bother me, although in retrospect it is pretty good. It’s one Tube stop to the City.”
Today, this part of London boasts the highest rental growth in the city, says Baxter, and it’s becoming the new place to be for the young, trendy and hip, with plenty of bars, cafes and restaurants in the vicinity.
Airbnb describes it as such, “Once considered as dim as a dusty candle, Bethnal Green is experiencing a revival that’s transforming it into a chandelier. Some of the neighborhood’s back alleys remain endearingly dodgy, but Bethnal Green’s influx of boutique hotels, boutique firms, and boutique…boutiques, are quickly adding to its rising stardom. Art galleries and swanky lounges share Bethnal Green with its resident cast of gentlemen’s clubs—the sort of venues that lend the neighbourhood its mischievously illicit atmosphere.”
A total of £20m went into the conversion of the hotel which has 20 individually designed rooms and suites. Here, Marie and Lik Peng share the story of what went into the making of Town Hall Hotel & Apartments, which will be the venue for WIT Europe cocktails on June 30, as well as future plans for the Unlisted Collection.
Marie Baxter with resident dog Dizzie
Q: Marie, how long have you known Lik Peng and why did you know instinctively that he’d like the Town Hall building? Despite the location …
I’ve known Peng for about 16 years now. Working alongside someone for this long allows you to understand exactly what it is each of you want. Peng has a penchant for restoring heritage buildings — especially those in an undesirable location, so the Town Hall seemed perfect. East London is and was a hub of creativity. It was also becoming the place to be, so it just felt right.
Q: Peng, Bethnal Green isn’t exactly the best of locations – it was rather dodgy in fact when Marie first brought it to your attention in 2008. Why did you say yes?
Although Bethnal Green could have been considered undesirable back in 2008, there was clear evidence that it held a certain magic to it. With its extensive history and the fact that the city was growing eastward, it seemed — although risky — an obvious choice to both of us.
Q: Marie/Peng, how hard was it to conclude the sale? Who was the previous owner and what was the building’s use at the time?
It was surprisingly easy to conclude the sale. The building was privately owned and used a film location for about 15 years before we came across it. Movies like Atonement, Snatch and Edge of Love were all filmed there.
Loh Lik Peng: “I wanted our guests to feel like Londoners when staying with us.”
Q: Peng, what did you want to create with Town Hall? It was your first hotel outside Asia – did you not feel it’d create complications with your operations and scale, given how small you were at the time?
I wanted to create a lifestyle hotel that showcased the best of London. Rather than tourists, I wanted our guests to feel like Londoners when staying with us. I think we’ve managed to achieve that through our apartments and great F&B offering. As for those complications, we actually had an operations team at 196 Bishopsgate already so it felt like the right step to take.
Q: Marie, what did you create with Town Hall? Tell us about the conversion and restoration process – how long did it take?
Town Hall was an incredibly fun, passion project of ours. As Peng mentioned, we wanted to create a hub that allowed our guests to really connect with the city. The planning stage took exactly a year, whilst the construction took approximately 15 months — we were incredibly lucky to finish this size project at such a fast pace.
Q: Peng, was this process harder than the one you went through with Old Clare in Sydney? What’s the difference between British and Australia regulations?
Town Hall Hotel took over two years whilst Old Clare took approximately four years to complete. Towards completion, I was exhausted from dealing with a structurally difficult building and red tape that’s far worse than the UK. I do like difficult old buildings, but it was incredibly complex and the fact it’s listed along with the regulatory process made it the toughest project I have ever worked on. One of the most challenging things was adding two storeys with an additional swimming pool on the roof.
Q: Marie/Peng, did you both have a lot of arguments about what you each wanted? Or was it pretty much kumbaya from the beginning?
Marie: Hahaha! Naturally, we each have our own tastes so we were bound to clash at times. However, we worked very closely with RARE Architects who we trust and were able to provide the greatest of ideas. I think overall we were on the same page so we each knew what our final goal was.
Peng: Marie can be feisty at the best of times! But the best outcomes always come from collaborations rather than singular ideas. Town Hall is a collaboration project between myself, Marie and our architects as well as local talent.
The Council Chamber: Used as a screening room, dining room, wedding venue and conference centre
Q: Marie, tell us about your top 3 favourite unique features of Town Hall.
A dream of a swimming pool
In no particular order, I’d have to go with our Council Chamber; which is used as a screening room, dining room, wedding venue and conference centre; our apartments; which are perfect for families and/or longer stays; and our swimming pool.
Q: Marie, how hard was it to put Town Hall on the map, considering its location? What was the hook?
East London was already well on its way to being recognised as a destination when we opened Town Hall Hotel. Once we opened, we collaborated with as much local talent as possible — all in an effort to grow our own network and maximise awareness of what the area had to offer. Luckily, the area has since developed and is now known as not only a creative hub, but perhaps the best for restaurants in London.
Q: Marie, what kind of customers do you get now? Market mix and what kind of customers are you aiming for?
Town Hall Hotel’s guests have always been an eclectic mix of people, so it’s quite difficult to pinpoint exactly who our market is. However, we’d be safe in saying that our guests are design-concious, city and creative types with a taste for the good things. They visit not only for the hotel, but for Typing Room, Corner Room and Peg + Patriot.
Q: Peng, of your hotels, what makes Town Hall different and distinctive? Why does it hold a special place in your heart? Any other plans for expansion in London or the UK? Dublin where you were born for example?
I love how Town Hall Hotel epitomises what Unlisted Collection represents. It’s a cutting edge hotel in an equally cutting edge location. It helps to be a curious traveller to stay, dine or drink there.
As for expansion, our focus has shifted from new projects to established ones. So, over the next two years, we’ll be refurbishing some existing projects — all in an effort to avoid spreading ourselves too thinly. Once this is done, I’d love to work on new projects within the markets we’re in now as well as Dublin.
Q: Peng, running a small collection of hotels and restaurants is tough – the tech world would say, this does not scale. How do you scale? What’s your playbook?
Our playbook covers equal parts hotel and F&B. I think groups tend to be good at either the hotel side or the F&B side. Very few do both and even fewer do both well. Our restaurants tend to be successful in their own right — which is a relatively unusual thing. We also like to ensure each project remains original and never a photocopy of another.
De Monfort Suite, where the WIT Europe cocktails, sponsored by Momondo Group, will be held on June 30.
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