When Canopy by Hilton London City asked us to create the textile pieces for Penny Squares restaurant, the brief came with a story already woven in.
The space takes its name from the simple embroidered patchwork patterns popular in the late 19th century — and sits in the heart of Spitalfields, the neighbourhood shaped by Huguenot weavers who fled persecution in the 17th century and brought their silk-weaving craft to East London. Embroidery has been in these streets for centuries.
Our response was to embroider the restaurant's curved sofas with abstract forms in velvet thread on copper-bathed mesh — like a carpet slowly erased by the passage of time. A piece that belongs to the space, to its history, and to the hands that have always worked here.
Spitalfields has been a place of weavers since the 17th century, when Huguenot refugees fled France and brought their silk-weaving craft to East London. The name Penny Squares honours the simple embroidered patchwork patterns popular in the late 19th century — a direct nod to the textile heritage of these streets.
Velvet thread on copper-bathed mesh — a material choice that gives the piece warmth, weight and a quiet luxury. The abstract pattern reads like a carpet worn by time, its edges softened, its colours faded to something more intimate. A piece made to be touched as much as seen.