British hotel chain Birch has opened an outpost in south London, with grounds rewilded by designer Sebastian Cox and interiors conceived by local studios A-nrd and Sella Concept.
Birch Selsdon is housed in a 19th-century mansion in the borough of Croydon and accommodates 181 rooms alongside a wellness space and lido, co-working facilities and a medley of restaurants and bars.
Birch Selsdon takes over a 19th-century mansion
The building was first turned into a hotel in the 1920s, with slapdash extensions and modifications added over the following century.
Local studios A-nrd and Sella Concept took a "restorative approach" to the interior works, stripping back much of the existing fit-out to allow the building's original architecture to come to the fore. The building's original stone walls and bas-relief ceilings can be seen in the lobby
Restoration was also the focus for Sebastian Cox, who developed a woodland management plan for the hotel's grounds as well as a rewilding strategy for its 18-hole golf course.
This will involve introducing grazing pigs and ponies, which can naturally distribute seeds and shape growing vegetation. The former fairways of the golf course will become wetlands, while the sandy bunkers will eventually attract small reptiles and other animals.
Timber from the grounds was used to create the shingled reception desks
Cox has also turned trees harvested from the grounds into a series of furnishings for the hotel, creating affordable, locally p...