Marriott International and Manhattan Loft Corporation redevelop Gilbert Scott Masterpiece
Marriott International has announced that its restoration of the former Midland Grand Hotel at St. Pancras Chambers will be branded as a Renaissance hotel, under a management contract with Manhattan Loft Corporation. The hotel is due to open in 2009.
St. Pancras Chambers is a landmark, 323,000ft2, Grade I listed, Victorian building, owned by London & Continental Railways. Manhattan Loft Corporation, with London & Continental, is responsible for the restoration and redevelopment of the hotel, as well as the addition of 67 new apartments at the top of the building.
When completed, the hotel will be called the Renaissance St. Pancras Hotel London. Plans call for the 245-room hotel to include two restaurants, two bars, a health and leisure centre, a business centre, a ballroom, a function room and eight meeting rooms.
During the restoration programme, the external appearance of the original building will be retained and a sympathetically designed hotel extension will be added at the rear. All the internal rooms of historic significance will be restored to their former glory. The original main building will house 52 guest rooms. Meeting rooms and other public spaces of the hotel will be located in the historic parts of the building with the remainder of the guest rooms being located in the new bedroom wing.
"We are excited to be part of this magnificent restoration which has been fully supported by the London Borough of Camden, English Heritage and the Victorian Society," said Ed Fuller, president and managing director of International Lodging for Marriott International. "The restoration of the St. Pancras Chambers building will herald the revival of the wider King's Cross area of London. The opening in 2007 of the St. Pancras International rail station will serve as the central London Eurostar Terminal, and will provide important transportation links to continental Europe's high speed rail network. We're confident that this Renaissance hotel will be a catalyst for the success of this extraordinary project."
St. Pancras Chambers was designed and built between 1868 and 1876 as a hotel by Sir George Gilbert Scott, the architect of London landmarks such as the Foreign and Commonwealth Office in Whitehall and the Albert Memorial in Hyde Park. Despite it being frequently cited as one of London's most loved and recognisable buildings, since its closure as a hotel in 1935, the building was used as offices by British Railways until the early 1980s, after which it has remained vacant.
