BT Tower London hotel building conversion news, MCR Hotels designer proposal, Cleveland Street Telecom sale
BT Tower London hotel building
22 February 2024
BT Tower in Hotel Conversion
Conversion Design: Thomas Heatherwick of Heatherwick Studio
Location: 60 Cleveland Street, Fitzrovia, England, UK
Key Tall Building in central London sold to MCR Hotels, USA.
photo courtesy of MCR Hotels
BT Tower London hotel building conversion news
London / 21 February, 2024 – MCR Hotels (MCR), the third largest hotel owner-operator in the US, has agreed to buy the BT Tower from BT Group.
MCR intends to secure the future of the iconic Grade II listed tower by repurposing it as a hotel and opening it up to the public. MCR will partner with Camden-based Heatherwick Studio. to consider how best to reimagine its use as a hotel.
Tyler Morse, CEO and owner of MCR, said: “We are proud to become owners and custodians of the iconic BT Tower. We will take our time to carefully develop proposals that respect the London landmark’s rich history and open the building for everyone to enjoy.”
photo courtesy of MCR Hotels
BT Group will take a number of years to vacate the premises, due to the scale and complexity of the work to move technical equipment, and there will be significant time for design development and engagement with local communities before any proposals come forward.
Tyler Morse at the TWA Hotel at JFK Airport, NYC, USA:
photo courtesy of MCR Hotels
MCR owns and operates many of New York’s best-known hotels, including The High Line Hotel, a former seminary, and the TWA Hotel at JFK Airport, a reimagining of Eero Saarinen’s 1962 landmark Flight Center, which received a national Architecture Award from the American Institute of Architects. The company also owns and is currently redeveloping the famed Gramercy Park Hotel.
Little Island, New York, USA, building design by Heatherwick Studio:
photo : Timothy Schenck
“We see many parallels between the TWA Hotel and the BT Tower,” said Morse. “Both are world-renowned, groundbreaking pieces of architecture. It’s been a privilege to adapt the TWA Flight Center into new use for future generations, as it will be the BT Tower.”
Gramercy Park Hotel, New York City, NY, for MCR Hotels, USA:
photo : AdobeStock
Thomas Heatherwick, Founder and Design Director, Heatherwick Studio, said: “My team and I are thrilled to partner with MCR to reimagine the BT Tower. This is an extraordinary building and an amazing opportunity to bring it back to life. We’re excited at the prospect of working with Fitzrovia’s residents and with many thousands of Londoners, to repurpose this important piece of the city’s living heritage.”
Azabudai Hills, Tokyo, Japan, building design by Heatherwick Studio:
photo : Raquel Diniz
BT Tower London
The BT Tower is a Grade II listed communications tower sitting above a podium, located between Cleveland Street, Maple Street, Cleveland Mews and Howland Street in Fitzrovia, London.
The main structure is 177 metres (581 ft) high, with a further section of aerial rigging bringing the total height to 189 metres (620 ft). Upon completion in 1964, it overtook the Millbank Tower to become the tallest structure in London until 1980, when it was overtaken by the NatWest Tower.
MCR
TWA Hotel at JFK Airport, NYC, for MCR Hotels, USA:
photo : MCR Hotels
MCR is the 3rd-largest hotel owner-operator in the United States with a $5.0 billion portfolio of 150 premium-branded hotels containing more than 25,000 guestrooms. Founded in 2006 by Tyler Morse, MCR has 7,000 team members across the country and operates independent hotels as well as 9 Marriott and 8 Hilton hotel brands. MCR has been named one of Fast Company’s Most Innovative Travel Companies.
Pasadena Hotel & Pool, California, for MCR Hotels, USA:
photo : MCR Hotels
For the TWA Hotel at New York’s JFK airport, NY, USA, MCR won the Development of the Year (Full Service) Award at The Americas Lodging Investment Summit (ALIS), the Urban Land Institute New York Excellence in Hotel Development Award and the American Institute of Architects national Architecture Award, the highest honor given by the AIA. For more information, please visit mcrhotels.com.
Sheraton New York Times Square, NYC, for MCR Hotels, USA:
photo : MCR Hotels
Heatherwick Studio
Heatherwick Studio is a design team of over 250 problem solvers dedicated to making the physical world around us better for everyone. Their recent work includes two new campuses for Google in California in collaboration with BIG, Little Island in New York, Coal Drops Yard in King’s Cross London, as well as recently opened Azabudai Hills, the studio’s first district in the heart of Tokyo.
ZeitzMOCAA Cape Town, South Africa, building design by Heatherwick Studio:
photo : Iwan Baan
This British architectural studio is currently working on 30 live projects in ten countries. These include Hainan Performance Art Centre, a major cultural institution in China, mixed-use projects in Shanghai and Miami, as well a reimagination of London Olympia – a heritage exhibition and events destination. http://www.heatherwick.com/
London’s iconic BT Tower to become a hotel
The High Line Hotel, New York City, for MCR Hotels, USA:
photo : MCR Hotels
Heatherwick Studio Designs
Heatherwick Studio Building in London – key selection from e-architect below:
New Google Headquarters at Kings Cross, London, England, UK
Design: BIG – Bjarke Ingels Group and Heatherwick Studios, architects
image from architect
Google’s New Headquarters at Kings Cross
Contemporary Heatherwick Studio Building Designs in the UK – recent architectural selection:
UCB Windlesham, Windlesham, Surrey, southeast England
image : Secchi Smith Apple
UCB Windlesham
Maggie’s Yorkshire Centre, Leeds, West Yorkshire, northern England
images courtesy of architects
Maggie’s Yorkshire Centre
Bombay Sapphire Distillery Laverstoke, Hampshire, southern England
Design: Heatherwick Studio, Architects with GWP, Architects
photograph : Iwan Baan
Bombay Sapphire Distillery Building
BT Tower London Building
photograph © Adrian Welch, from 1 Oct 2012
The BT Tower, a well-known landmark in London, is set to be turned into a hotel after it was sold for £275m, report the BBC.
The tower’s former owners, BT Group, announced on Wednesday it had sold it to US operator MCR Hotels.
The sale announcement has been welcomed by the architectural heritage campaign group C20, which says it hopes to see the revolving restaurant reinstated.
photo © Adrian Welch, from 1 Oct 2012
Previously on e-architect:
Date built: 1961
Chief Architects: Eric Bedford & G. R. Yeats
Ministry of Public Buildings and Works
BT Tower in London
Location: 60 Cleveland Street, Fitzrovia, W1T 4JZ, central London, southeast England, United Kingdom
Status: Grade II listed since 2003
It was London’s tallest building for 16 years until the NatWest Tower in the City of London was built.
Thomas Heatherwick’s previous designs in the UK capital include the new Routemaster buses for Boris Johnson when he was mayor, the Olympic cauldron for the 2012 Games and the abandoned plan for a Garden Bridge across the River Thames.
Location: 60 Cleveland Street, Fitzrovia, London W1T 4JZ, England, UK
London Buildings
Contemporary London Building Designs
London Architecture Links – chronological list
London Architecture Tours by e-architect
London Skyscraper Buildings
Modern London Skyscraper Buildings – key architectural selection from e-architect below:
Centre Point Tower
Centre Point Tower
The Scalpel
Design: Kohn Pederson Fox – KPF
image courtesy of the architects
The Scalpel City of London Skyscraper
Lloyds Building
Lloyds Building
60-70 St Mary Axe
Design: Foggo Associates Architects
60-70 St Mary Axe skyscraper image courtesy of the architects studio
60-70 St Mary Axe Building
BT Tower in Hotel Conversion design by Thomas Heatherwick of Heatherwick Studio – Cleveland Street property redevelopment, England, UK, page welcome.