The Standard London

Brutalist architecture is back in a big way — good news for London, which is practically swimming in the stuff. The old Seventies-era Camden Town Hall Annexe, just opposite St Pancras Station in King’s Cross, has lived long enough to evolve from an architectural pariah into something precious. After a number of developers came close to demolishing it, in swooped the Standard hotel group, who rightly saw a bit of their own aesthetic reflected in its orderly Modernist geometry. The Standard, London is the brand’s first outside of America, and it’s a perfect fit for this newly hip North London neighborhood.

The colorful interiors provide maximum contrast with the monochrome façade, and they’re notable for their period inspiration, if not their historical correctness — with their space-age lines and their saturated secondary colors they’re an homage to the utopian currents of Seventies modernism. The rooms are instantly memorable, recalling a familiar era but avoiding all the mid-century clichés. And at the high end you’ll find unexpected luxuries, like private terraces with outdoor bathtubs. Soon to open are chef Adam Rawson’s restaurant and bar: Isla and Double Standard. Both promise, if the Standard brand’s previous history is any guide, to be well-loved by travelers and to become fixtures on the local scene as well.