Not-for-profit art hotel to open in London's Wood Green

The UK's first arts-led social enterprise hotel is set to launch in London with backing from entrepreneur Kurt Bredenbeck.

Green Rooms, which will open in spring 2016 in Wood Green as a not-for-profit operation, is the result of a collaboration between Bredenbeck, the chairman, and Nick Hartwright, a social entrepreneur. Hartwright is the founder of the Mill Co Project, a social enterprise that offers creative individuals affordable workspace by day and stages exhibitions and plays at night.

The hotel will be aimed at artists visiting and working in London looking for accommodation at an affordable price. Room rates will start at £18 per night.

Offering accommodation in 20 double bedrooms, two studio apartments and two dormitories each sleeping 20, the hotel is being developed within an Art Deco building - originally constructed in 1925 for the Northern Metropolitan Power and Electricity Company - owned by Haringey Council. The Mayor of London's £9m High Street Fund is contributing to the financing of the project.

The ground floor restaurant will run rent-free residencies for emerging restaurateurs, while a free monthly programme of cultural events will be led by artists staying at the hotel and the property's cultural partners such as the Royal Court Theatre and Create London. An artist-in-residence programme will be supported by the Arts Council England. There will also be a lobby bar and a second bar at the top of the building on the fourth floor.

Hartwright said that he and Bredenbeck have set out to create something "completely new and different " with Green Rooms. "There are thousands of hotels in London but there's a real shortage of affordable hotel accommodation that doesn't compromise on quality," he explained. "We're very confident that artists, creatives, style enthusiasts and the wider local community will love staying and working at Green Rooms. It's going to be an exciting, inclusive and accessible creative environment, and we can't wait to open our doors."

London based architects SODA, which recently refitted the new Soho House at 76 Dean Street is restoring the building, while furnishings will be from the Folk fashion label.

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