Under the Covers at The Newman
As The Newman, the much-anticipated flagship hotel from new brand Kinsfolk and Co., opens its doors after four years of hard work, dedication and passion, The Festival of Hospitality slips Under the Covers to get an inside look from the team who brought this project to life.
Moderator Philippa Wagner, founder of creative strategy studio People Places Spaces, led a panel discussion with Paul Brackley, founder and CEO of Kinsfolk and Co., the hospitality management company behind The Newman and formerly in director roles at Shangri La at The Shard and The Beaumont; Oliver Milne-Watson, general manager at The Newman and previously in management roles at The Beaumont and The Goring; and Pernille Lind and Richy Almond, co-founders of Lind + Almond, the interior design studio behind the hotel. Together they explored the inspirations, business philosophies and design principles that shaped The Newman.
Fitzrovia’s Character - and Characters
The Newman has been described as the hotel Fitzrovia didn't know it needed. But what exactly is the personality of a Fitzrovian? What would a Fitzrovian want from a hotel that not only aims to shake up the establishment, but also an established business model? For Paul Brackley, the starting point to answering these questions was to explore the multilayered tapestry of the neighbourhood, drawing inspiration not only from his family’s roots in the area but also Fitzrovia’s distinct heritage, community, architecture and artistry.
He tapped Lind + Almond to distil this essence into an interior design that embodies the area’s cultural heritage. Paul says he instantly knew upon meeting Pernille Lind and Richy Almond that they were the right team, and once he introduced them to the investors, everything clicked. In contrast to the encyclopaedic operations manuals provided by international hotel brands, Paul gave the duo a design overview and a 12-page list of the minimum requirements they needed to interpret and then bring to life. They ran with it, coming back with a pitch that he says completely nailed what everyone wanted to achieve.
Many legendary pubs, plus a handful of restaurants, still exist in Fitzrovia today, and their décor influenced some of the patterns, textures and palettes within The Newman. But for Pernille and Richy, even greater inspiration came from the early 20th century coterie of artists, poets, writers, and political activists who shaped Fitzrovia’s reputation as a bohemian quarter. The aesthetics and philosophies expressed through their creative works and personas sparked the designers’ imaginations. The geometric art by Percy Wyndham Lewis, founder of the Vorticist movement, was interpreted in the spatial format of The Newman’s Gambit Bar. Poet, women’s rights campaigner and shipping heiress Nancy Cunard was renowned for her avant-garde fashion sense. Triangle motifs from her headscarves appear in flooring and ceiling designs, while the elaborate wooden bangles she wore stacked up both her forearms inspired the sculptural totem-style headboard found in each guest room.
The flexibility afforded by the blank canvas of a new-build structure is one of the reasons for The Newman’s design success. Beautiful curves and rounded corners soften the ‘newness’, as does the lighting and the use of natural materials and textures rather than bright colours.
“Our design responds to the physical character of the area, but even more so to the interesting people who were way ahead of the game in terms of literature and the arts, creatives who came together to eat and drink in Fitzrovia.”
Richy Almond, Lind + Almond
A Londoner’s London Empowered by REAL People
For Oliver Milne-Watson, building community connections has been important from the start. The Newman team’s two key goals are to make guests happier than they were when they arrived, and to celebrate Fitzrovia as a fantastic area by bringing it to the forefront. The hotel is already holding events with neighbours Gibson Garage and Wanda Tattoo, and the consistent engagement and promotion of other local businesses is a genuine promise of the Kinsfolk brand. With their own entrance away from the hotel reception desk, Brasserie Angelica upstairs and Gambit Bar downstairs are intended to be accessible for both Fitzrovians and Londoners, which will in turn drive international guests attracted to the buzz. The spatial layout further draws people in through ‘rooms within rooms’ designed as a voyage of discovery. Intriguing spaces make guests want to find out what’s behind the door and around the corner. The brasserie’s menu is large enough to give returning locals a variety of dining choices.
Kinsfolk created its own internal brand for building its team: REAL People. Employees are hired based on their values and a belief they will share the management’s personal ethos of kindness, empathy and curiosity. Kinsfolk also partners with Saira Hospitality, a non-profit that holds pop-up hotel schools in real working environments for people who wouldn’t normally have the opportunity or confidence to learn hospitality industry skills. Students are supported with travel or childcare expenses while they learn practical skills such as working in a kitchen and using the POS system, as well as soft skills like emotional intelligence. Around 20 students graduated from The Newman’s ‘school’, with a handful being hired by the hotel and others employed by local businesses.
The Newman allocates budget for supporting charitable causes in Fitzrovia as well as in the wider hospitality industry. The hotel has already helped with the regeneration of Crabtree Fields, a new park around the corner from the hotel, and it encourages team members to suggest other initiatives.
“Guests are looking for a Londoner’s London, rather than just a property that could really be anywhere in the world. A neighbourhood’s community is created through kindness, empathy and curiosity – something our whole new team has really grabbed onto with both hands.”
Oliver Milne-Watson, The Newman
Old Souls in a New-Build Body - Fuelled by Tech Innovations
The pandemic changed Paul and inspired him to do something different, to take a risk and start Kinsfolk and Co. as a purpose-led hospitality management company rooted in a Triple-Bottom-Line philosophy that champions people, places and our planet – alongside the knowledge that sustainability doesn’t have to cost more and actually drives higher profitability. Now, Kinsfolk is rewriting the rules as The Newman embarks on its journey towards becoming a B-Corp. The hotel is going beyond the elimination of paper products and single-use anything by working with sustainability consultants Sarah Duncan and FuturePlus to track, collect and report The Newman’s energy usage, including the energy this data mining requires.
Tech innovations make this possible, especially since as a new-build, The Newman started afresh with an energy-efficient Building Management System that allows for sub-metering of MEP, which means complete control of how each area uses power sourced from a green energy supplier. Sustainable profits have also been planned through the OS&E procurement, with the kitchen using electric induction hobs and a smart extractor hood that only turns on when service is busy.
Another innovation Oliver sees as a game changer is The Newman’s use of a chatbot from tech company Youda. Programmed with the hotel’s operating procedures, it will help team members solve problems faster and with greater consistency, thereby increasing their time for empathetic interactions with guests.
Paul and Oliver evaluated how tech interventions can improve the pleasure and pain points of every step in the guest journey and then identified opportunities to switch things up while still respecting the expectations of a luxury environment. These tweaks let guests choose the degree of automation they want to experience. They might wish to do everything remotely from a device, or conversely, opt for human interaction when conversations and digital detox are a priority – or something in between. Human connection remains essential for service recovery when things go wrong.
“We talk about thoughtful excellence at Kinsfolk and at The Newman, and we encourage our team to explore what that means. People really want to know that their employer cares about the planet. Profit is not a rude word. Return on investment is critical, and it's becoming more and more challenging. We have to lean into technology.”
Paul Brackley, Kinsfolk and Co.
Design Tennis: Functional Ease, Guest Comfort and Iconic Aesthetics
The creative tension that arises from debates between design and operational requirements is inherent when the team is passionate about creating a stand-out project. Developing the signature guest room bed was a process of back-and-forth refinements to find the optimal balance between aesthetics, sleeping comfort and operational functionality. Pernille, Richy and Paul worked with Naturalmat, which makes beds from organic materials, to create a ‘twinnable’ mattress that is light enough for housekeeping to move on hidden rotating casters if separate beds are required. When joined into one bed, a cushioned topper makes the centre seam undetectable. Both versions work with Lind + Almond’s sculptural headboard design.
Another volley came in the form of The Gambit’s bar top made from raw copper, a material that challenged Paul and Oliver’s conservative side as operators, but which won out in the end for its beauty. When the factory making it couldn’t achieve the patina Richy envisioned, his expert hands-on solution was to use special machinery and finish the job himself.
This meticulous dedication extends to the designers’ consideration of each material’s technical capabilities. They scrutinised and selected every individual marble block for all the guest bathroom vanities. It took six months for them to be happy with the colour, crackle and glazing of all the bathroom tiles. There were many meetings with the designer of the different bespoke rugs and with nearly every artist creating works for the hotel. They carried out extensive testing of suitable materials and manufacturers for the stainless-steel inlays embedded in The Gambit’s circular floor design. Richy and Pernille also provided insights into what an informal, unstructured ‘Fitzrovian’ uniform would look like, and helped Paul and Oliver set up and dress the rooms for the final hotel delivery.
“Our passion lies in creating beautiful pieces that really become, dare I say, iconic elements for a hotel. There were a lot of details in the bed design, and the thought of losing them meant we kept fighting for a solution so we could all be happy.”
Pernille Lind, Lind + Almond
Conclusion
Close alignment and cooperation between management, operations and design teams not only helped bring The Newman to life, it paved a bold experimental pathway for proving how tech-enabled hospitality spaces that value people, places and our planet can give investors an ethical route to greater profitability. Although processes will evolve and be fine-tuned after energy-usage reports and feedback from guests and employees are received, the goals of supporting sustainability and team happiness, alongside ROI, will remain an inherent part of the Kinsfolk brand DNA.
Kinsfolk isn’t resting on its laurels. The brand has numerous projects in its pipeline, including a 180-cover Eastern Mediterranean restaurant and bar opening in 2026 on the site of the old Cypriot bank on Charlotte Street. Two smaller casual dining concepts on Charlotte Street in Fitzrovia are underway, with apartments above that will be associated with The Newman as they’re a couple of minutes’ walk away - like a country house hotel, but in the ‘Fitzrovian village’. Two other hotels are being planned: 55 wellness-focused suite apartments on Great George Street in Westminster, plus a 77-room sibling to The Newman on Victoria Street by Westminster Cathedral, both with interiors designed by 1508 London. A fourth hotel whose details can’t be disclosed yet is in a neighbourhood quite close to Fitzrovia, and then a resort partnership in the Mediterranean is hoped to be announced in 2026.
Rather than attempting to pin down definitive Fitzrovian character, The Newman’s team embraces its many variations. Lind + Almond express this through a layered design that translates the personalities of the neighbourhood’s storied bohemians. The design details will carry the neighbourhood’s creative spirit forward long into the future.
“The art of hospitality has a timeless elegance, and that shines through in The Newman.”
Paul Brackley, Kinsfolk and Co.
View the highlights video Under the Covers at The Newman.