Studio Moren finalist in two categories at the Property Week Sustainable Real Estate Awards 2026
Studio Moren finalist in two categories at the Property Week Sustainable Real Estate Awards 2026
We’re delighted to announce that Hyde London City is a finalist for Commercial Retrofit Project of the Year, and our Head of Sustainability, Bryan Oknyansky, is a finalist for the Sustainability Leader of the Year.
Hyde London City’s nomination recognises the creative transformation of an existing building, preserving its significance, embedding sustainability and creating a positive impact for its community. Bryan’s nomination celebrates his continued commitment to putting sustainability at the heart of the property sector, helping to drive meaningful change and encourage more responsible and ethical approaches to development.
Originally built in 1874 as a grand hotel, Hyde London City has undergone a remarkable transformation. After decades of office use and extensive alterations in the 1980s, the project presented an opportunity to restore the building’s Victorian character while giving it a new lease of life as a contemporary hotel. Working within the constraints of a retained structure, Studio Moren carefully balanced restoration with bold, contemporary interventions. Historic details including ornate cornicing, high skirtings and arched openings have been revived, bringing back a sense of the building’s lost grandeur, while layered, expressive interiors introduce a distinctly modern identity.
The result is a thoughtful example of adaptive reuse in action, preserving the character and embodied value of an existing building while creating a contemporary destination that delivers modern comfort, operational efficiency and a strong sense of place.
Photography: Ennismore & Heiko Prigge
Hyde London City achieved several major milestones, including the launch of Hyde’s first UK hotel through the adaptive reuse and restoration of a Grade II listed building. The project delivered 111 guestrooms and public hospitality spaces, plus 21 additional guestrooms through a sensitive lightwell extension, increasing capacity while respecting the retained heritage structure.
The retrofit successfully integrated modern acoustic, structural and operational standards while embedding measurable sustainability initiatives, including monthly environmental reporting through Gaia 2.0 and a targeted 4% reduction in water intensity against the 2024 baseline.
Photography: Ennismore & Heiko Prigge
Hyde London City also achieved finalist recognition in major UK and international hospitality and design awards, providing independent recognition of the project’s innovation, quality and impact. Collectively, these achievements demonstrate how Hyde London City successfully combines heritage retrofit, ESG performance and commercial success within the modern hospitality sector.
Environmental sustainability has been embedded in both the retrofit design and day-to-day operations. Hyde London City uses Gaia 2.0, Accor and Ennismore’s environmental reporting platform, to track and improve resource performance.
Photography: Ennismore & Heiko Prigge
Hyde London City demonstrates how a historic building can be retrofitted into a contemporary hotel while achieving strong environmental, social and governance outcomes. Studio Moren acted as architect and interior designer for the conversion, returning the Grade II listed building to its original hospitality use for OB Capital. Originally built in 1874 and later converted into offices, the building has been carefully restored as Hyde’s first UK hotel, preserving its Victorian character while avoiding the environmental impact of demolition and new construction.
It is a strong example of heritage-led retrofit combining conservation, performance and measurable sustainability impact. Sustainability is further supported through energy and water monitoring, waste reduction initiatives, food waste diversion, inclusive design and step free access.
Congratulations to Bryan Oknyansky on being named a Finalist for Sustainability Leader of the Year.
Bryan Oknyansky is Head of Sustainability at Studio Moren, where he builds on the practice’s long-standing commitment to sustainable design and construction by developing the capability, processes and shared language needed to meet increasingly technical environmental, social, and governance aims in the built environment.
Working within a practice with a long-standing commitment to sustainability in its design thinking, Bryan has helped formalise and deepen that commitment as industry demands have grown. He introduced processes to enable sustainable design principles to be threaded through the design and construction stages, and has also championed management frameworks that enable the practice to twin-track team upskilling alongside business development.
Bryan leads sustainability work across projects, supporting teams and clients with the growing technical demands of BREEAM, whole-life carbon impacts, circular economy and other frameworks. He has also introduced net zero feasibility appraisals as a way to bring low-carbon thinking into the conversation from first client contact.
What sets Bryan apart is his commitment to making sustainability actionable at every level, whether for project teams, clients, or industry peers navigating an increasingly complex regulatory landscape. He operates not as a compliance officer but as a strategic partner: one who understands that the built environment will only decarbonise at scale if sustainability is embedded into the culture, governance, and commercial logic of the organisations that shape it. Bryan exemplifies progressive sustainability leadership through a rigorous and collaborative approach, and with a deep commitment to lasting change.