Luxury hotel to go back on track

editorial@hamhigh.co.uk
25 March 2005

The grand staircase in St Pancras Chambers, soon to be turned back into a hotel.

THE Midland Grand Hotel, a St Pancras landmark, is set to be restored to its former glory as part of a £100million redevelopment.

Planners were last night expected to give the green light to a major facelift for Sir George Gilbert Scott's architectural gem - now called St Pancras Chambers - on Euston Road.

The scheme, lodged by the Manhattan Loft Corporation, would see the semi-derelict building turned into 68 luxury apartments and a five star 245-bed Marriott Hotel with swimming pool, spa, gym, bars and a restaurant.

FACTFILE Architect Sir George Gilbert Scott won a competition to create the Midland Grand Hotel with his 300-room, £500,000 design. The hotel opened its doors in 1873 At a cost of 15 shillings a night (70p) it offered luxuries including a fire in every room, an in-house orchestra, electrophones, stock market print-outs, a Moroccan themed coffee house and even, in 1890, London’s first ladies’ drawing room, where women were allowed to smoke in public By the 1930s its facilities were outdated and it was expensive to run. It closed in 1935, renamed St Pancras Chambers and used as railway offices Threatened with demolition in the 60s, it was saved in 1967 when it was grade I listed as an outstanding example of high Victorian Gothic architecture with its ornamental ceilings, mosaics and stencilling. In the 1980s it closed after failing its fire certificate, but a £9million English Heritage project in the 90s restored the exterior and made it weatherproof. It has since hosted numerous art shows and film shoots including a Spice Girls video and Bridget Jones’s Diary

The plans, which include building a new five-storey hotel wing on Midland Road, have been largely welcomed by residents, businesses and conservation groups such as The Victorian Society.

A spokesman for Whitbread Plc, which owns the Marriott chain, said: "King's Cross has been undergoing significant regeneration for some years. It is a superb site and we are pleased to be able to contribute to this regeneration."

In a report to councillors at last night's planning committee, the local conservation area advisory committee said: "The scheme has our wholehearted approval and support and we are enormously impressed by it."

Council officers recommended the plans for approval.

Bill Lehm, from the King's Cross Railway Lands Group, said: "It was months ago when we went to see the presentation but everyone who was there was very happy with the plans. The only problem was with the number of car parking spaces in the forecourt. They want something like 45 but there are already too many parking spaces in the area.

"Apart from that everyone is pleased to see the thing happening - and it should happen very quickly."

One of few reservations came from The Commission for Architecture in the Built Environment which feared the new wing would not be in keeping with the Victorian original.

But officers concluded that the overall scheme would "maintain the integrity of the original structure, preserve the character of the conservation area and facilitate public access to a very prominent building and bring life to the area throughout the day."

editorial@hamhigh.co.uk