Top designer turns hand to new hotel

The leading London designer Tom Dixon is set to create his first ever hotel – he has been hired by the upmarket American group Morgans Hotel for their Mondrian on the south bank of the Thames.

Morgan's was due to unveil plans for the 360-bed hotel in the former Sea Containers House building this morning.

The redevelopment of the former office block into the hotel, restaurants and new offices is due to be finished in 2014.

Dixon, who was behind the design of Shoreditch House and is a former head of design at Habitat, has been hired by the group for the first Mondrian hotel in Europe. Morgan's, founded by the boutique hotel guru Ian Schrager, runs the Royalton and Hudson in New York and the Sanderson in London.

Morgan's will invest £9m into the hotel as part of the redevelopment of the 652,000 square foot building close to the Oxo Tower on the south side of the Thames.

The property company Archlane owns the site and before Christmas secured a £120m refinancing for the development.