Stow Away Hotel
Location: Waterloo, London
Architect: Doone Silver Kerr
2018
In 2018, the architects Doone Silver Kerr created Stow-Away Hotel in response to the need for sustainable and adaptable living in London. The hotel is made up of 25 recycled shipping containers stacked on top of one another.
The proposed development, a collaboration between Network Rail and Stow Projects, overcomes the site's difficult technical limitations by using 30ft shipping containers as the construction system, allowing the entire building to be moved at the end of the contract. The project won the 2020 New London Architecture Awards for its innovative concept.
Each of the 20 rooms is housed within its own shipping container and includes a super king
size bed at one end, a flat-screen TV, a small, fully functional kitchen, a walk-in shower, and air conditioning.
The muted colour scheme of greys, browns, and natural whites has been used to highlight the size of each room. The architects explained that they created a "tunnel effect" by using these specific colours as well as dim, warm lighting to extend the length of the small rooms.
The hotel is centrally located with only a 5-minute walk from Waterloo Station and has a wine bar called 'Unwined' on the ground floor.
