Main Contractor: Blue Sky Building
Architect: Woods Bagot
Engineer: ARUP
Artist: Ian Monroe
Materials: Glazed terracotta, Portland stone
Completed: 2021
London’s first ‘Super-Boutique’ hotel, comprising an epic masterplan of interconnecting volumes, spaces and shafts of light and to provide a unique guest experience. This 16-story project has been sensitively integrated into the historic and famous centre of Leicester Square, London.
Originally a 1930’s stage-theatre, the building has undergone several iterations before becoming this 350-room hotel. The hotel is complemented by two underground Odeon cinemas, six restaurants and bars, a spa and wellness facility, conference and meeting rooms, and one of London’s largest event spaces.
The Londoner’s façade is a combination of art meeting design, a collaboration between Woods Bagot, Grants and the artist Ian Monroe. The building is wrapped in a faceted, ultramarine blue faience skin made up of 30 different mosaic patterns and 15,000 of Grants hand-made terracotta tiles. We also manufactured and installed hand-set Portland stone for the façade, which gives careful consideration of the history and context of the local area. The Londoner stands at the intersection of four neighbourhoods, the detail and materials were designed to reflect and respond to each neighbourhood.
The building reinforces Westminster Council’s ‘City for All’ plan and is an exemplary show of collaboration. Woods Bagot worked very closely alongside The Edwardian’s own creative design team, engineering firm Arup, interior designers Yabu Pushelberg and construction / PMs Blue Sky Building to achieve something truly unique within the heart of London.
BREEAM Excellent
