Alfred and Georgi Akirov, the duo behind the Mamilla hotel in Jerusalem (W*127) and the Conservatorium in Amsterdam (W*157), are soon to complete a three year-long project with David Chipperfield Architects transforming the legendary Café Royal into a contemporary hotel, in readiness for hosting guests during the Olympics this summer. Opened in 1865, the Café Royal was the favourite haunt of bohemians and intellectuals such as George Bernard Shaw, Paul Verlaine and Oscar Wilde (who once had too much absinthe in the Grill Room and mistook a waiter stacking chairs for a man watering tulips), and later saw the likes of Virginia Woolf, Winston Churchill and, more recently, David Bowie walk through its doors.
Chipperfield’s team restored the original 1860s and 1930s features of the listed Domino and Grill Rooms, which will reopen as a private members’ club and restaurant respectively, and took inspiration from the apartment of Regent Street architect John Nash to create the interiors of the hotel’s spacious 155 rooms with marble, oak and bronze details, high windows and large lobbies. The five suites, meanwhile, have been sympathetically restored by Donald Insall Associates. Our favourites are the Empire Suite, which boasts a massage room, and the Dome Suite located under the building’s copper dome, which has two terraces overlooking Piccadilly Circus and Big Ben. Café Royal opens in September 2012.
ADDRESS
68 Regent Street
London
VIEW GOOGLE MAPS (opens in new tab)
-
This compact brutalist treasure is a south London house by Whittaker ParsonsThis addition to a south London terrace is a brutalist treasure, a meticulously detailed urban infill in concrete and brick that makes the most of its site
-
Architecture Drawing Prize 2022 awarded to rich visualisation that challenges stereotypes
The Architecture Drawing Prize 2022 has been awarded to Samuel Wen and Michael Ren for their hybrid artwork, 'Fitzroy Food Institute'
-
First look at Rimowa’s new collaboration with cult skate brand Palace
Palace Rimowa sees the luggage brand’s signature aluminium cabin suitcase emblazoned with an airbrushed motif, alongside a custom skate deck and set of stickers
-
London tour: from design shopping to exciting dining, architecture and art
Our London tour is a guide to the city’s must-sees of the moment, from Battersea Power Station to a hyperlocal design hub and the best bars and restaurants
-
Cosiest London cocktail bars for this frosty winter season
The best London cocktail bars for winter, from a fairy-lit terrace in Fitzrovia to snug surrounds in Covent Garden
-
Villa One at the One & Only Palmilla — Los Cabos, Mexico
-
Notting Hill’s Sister Jane Townhouse is a theatre of whimsy
Sella Concept devise an eccentric, multi-experiential home for fashion brand, Sister Jane
-
Holmes Hotel carves out its own corner on London’s Chiltern Street — London, UK
-
Aparthotels: the new breed of accommodation offering the best of both worlds
Aparthotels are big business. We take a look at Native, the design-led brand with big plans
-
Martim — Wroclaw, Poland
-
Tattersalls Hotel — Armidale, Australia
