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Canary Wharf, London E14

Novotel London Canary Wharf

Wallcovering installations at Novotel London Canary Wharf in 2016, photographed when we went back to stay in 2022.

Hotel room with concrete-effect wallcovering on a column, sofa and city view, Novotel London Canary Wharf.

At a glance

Client
Novotel London Canary Wharf
Designer
Not recorded
Main contractor
Not recorded
Maker and paper
Not recorded
Area or rooms
Not recorded
Scope
Wallcovering installation
Year
2016

We installed wallcoverings at Novotel London Canary Wharf in 2016. In January 2022 we went back to enjoy the work of our hands, and these photographs are from that visit: concrete-effect and timber-grain wallcoverings in the rooms and corridors, six years on.

At a glance

  • Hotel: Novotel London Canary Wharf
  • When: 2016 (photographed in January 2022)
  • Scope: wallcovering installation
  • Finishes seen here: concrete-effect and timber-grain wallcoverings

Six years on

A hotel wallcovering is judged years after the installers leave: whether the joints have stayed closed, the corners have held and the edges are still tight to the frames after daily use. These photographs show the rooms in 2022, after six years in service.

Photographs on this page

Our own photographs, taken on the 2022 visit and posted on our Instagram, @mrwallcover, on 29 January 2022 (CZVUfE5KWNA).

Photographs

Guest room with textured wallcovering, sofa and bed, Novotel London Canary Wharf.
Hotel room seen past a wallcovered column, Novotel London Canary Wharf.
Hotel corridor with concrete-effect wallcovering, Novotel London Canary Wharf.
Close-up of a timber-grain wallcovering beside a light switch, Novotel London Canary Wharf.

How the commission ran

The same standards, on every commission.

Whether the client is a hotel group, a designer or a household, the job runs the same way. These are the parts a photograph never shows.

  1. 01

    Survey and scope, room by room

    We measure the wall that will actually be hung, allow for the repeat and the wastage, and write a scope of works room by room before anyone orders paper.

  2. 02

    Preparation decides the finish

    Walls are filled, made good and primed until they are true. If a wall is not ready for the material specified, we say so before the last drop is ordered.

  3. 03

    Protection and containment

    Floors, furniture and finished joinery are protected as part of the hang. Work is contained and the place is left tidy each evening. In a home we are visitors; in a hotel we work around the house.

  4. 04

    Batch and shade control

    Deliveries are checked against the measure, and batches and shading are managed so that a corridor of rooms reads as one surface.

  5. 05

    Set out from the room's focal points

    Pattern is set out from chimneypieces, doorcases and bed walls, so the design meets the cornice and the joinery with composure.

  6. 06

    One team, then the return visit

    The people who start are the people who finish. Four to six weeks after completion we come back to look at every seam and edge, and the workmanship is guaranteed for twelve months.

See the finish up close: seams, internal corners, edges and joins from our own installations

By Dorin Burcus, founder · Last updated