The Emory

Old Barrack Yard is a lane most people walk past. The Emory rises from it in horizontal bands, terraces cut deep into the facade and glass set well back — a Foster + Partners building that explains itself from the pavement.

The governing idea is vertical variety. Each floor went to a different designer, so the palette, the joinery and the way a room is organised change as the lift climbs. Because every unit is a suite, the differences have space to register instead of reading as trim.

The hotel is small by count and large by volume. A rooftop looks toward Hyde Park; a spa occupies the lower levels; the public rooms are few and deliberately so.

It suits a guest who wants a private building rather than a grand one — the address is central, the front door is not.