The redevelopment of Admiralty Arch is continuing, with the developer Prime Investors Capital saying that up to 12 top hotel groups are interested in managing the luxury hotel. The management contract for the new hotel will be awarded in 2017.
The Grade 1 listed building is now being restored Prime Investors Capital, which was granted a 250-year lease by the UK Government to convert the building into a 100-bedroom hotel, spa, private apartments and a private members’ club.
Located on The Mall, Admiralty Arch was built in 1910 as a working monument to the British Navy and a memorial to Queen Victoria. It was designed by the leading architect of the period, Sir Aston Webb who, among many other grand projects of the time, was responsible for renovating the façade of Buckingham Palace itself. Admiralty Arch helped to link Buckingham Palace, The Mall and Trafalgar Square.
Four new serviced residences are now for sale in the building previously occupied by Sir Winston Churchill and Lord Mountbatten. Each residence has several suites, 6-metre high ceilings, intricate crests, original fireplaces and fittings from the Edwardian era, as well as views of The Mall, Trafalgar Square, St. James’s Park and Buckingham Palace.
Overseeing the restoration is renowned interior decorator David Mlinaric, who has worked on the Royal Opera House in Covent Garden, the National Portrait Gallery, the Victoria & Albert Museum and British Embassies in Paris and Washington among many other high-profile projects; and architect Michael Blair of Blair Associates, responsible for the unique renovation of luxury hotels The Connaught and Claridges, and for unique stores including Christian Dior.
David Mlinaric commented: “The intention behind the interior design is to answer, and where needed for the new purpose, enhance Sir Aston Webb’s distinguished, Edwardian, classical architecture and in so doing, to present a series of traditional, English rooms. The decorations are more colourful and more in keeping with late 20th Century and early 21st Century taste. The furnishings are a mixture of antique and contemporary for reasons of styling and comfort. In this way, it will be quite unlike any other London hotel.”
The advisory team also includes Ramon Parajes, the former Managing Director of the Savoy Group; Hugh Henry, the co-founder of design firm Mlinaric, Henry & Zervudachi; Andrew Damonte, who worked alongside the decorator Piers von Westenholz on the restoration of Dumfries House and Dr. John Robinson, a leading British architectural historian and Officer of Arms.
An extraordinary team of British artisans is now working on restoring Sir Aston Webb’s designs and creating the future hotel rooms and designs for the serviced residences including Linley, George Spencer Fabrics, Arthur Brett, Soane Britain, Collier Webb and Chesney’s.
www.admiraltyarch.co.uk
