US embassy in London to become a luxury hotel
Plans have been unveiled to turn the historic US embassy building in Mayfair, which dates back to the 1950s, into a luxury hotel.
The Grade II-listed landmark will be converted into a 137-room five-star hotel as part of a £1 billion restoration of Grosvenor Square, theEvening Standard reports.
The new hotel, developed by real estate group Qatari Diar and designed by British architect David Chipperfield , will offer a spa, five restaurants, six luxury shops and a ballroom for 1,000 guests, according to plans to be submitted to Westminster City Council next month.
The protected building, America’s largest European embassy since 1960, will receive a new lease of life when US ambassador Matthew Barzun and his 1,000 staff move to a new home in the Nine Elms district of Wandsworth early next year.
The square, which has been historically associated with the US for more than 200 years since John Adams, the first American envoy to Britain and second US president, was sent to the Court of St James, will be restored as an “open, expansive green space for residents and visitors to enjoy”, Qatari developers say, following a revamp which will include the demolition of the bollards and barriers built around the embassy after the 9/11 attacks.
Full details of the renovation scheme for Grosvenor Square can be viewed in a public exhibition from April 11 to 16 at 24 Grosvenor Hill.
“We have studied the building’s design and its history as well as its surroundings to deliver an architecturally and socially coherent proposal, which will transform this purpose-built embassy into a world-class hotel,” says Mr Chipperfield.
"A new chapter in our special relationship begins in early 2017 with our move to a new U.S. Embassy in Nine Elms. Grosvenor Square will write a new chapter of its own, one that I hope retains an imprint of America’s deep and abiding history here,” said Mr Barzan.
Other current London projects managed by Qatari Diar include the Southbank Place riverside complex as well as the joint development of the East Village on the former Olympic site and the Elephant and Castle town centre.
No comments:
Post a Comment