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The facts:
Client: Minerva /
Northarce
Location: West London
Services: Construction Management
Sector: Private Residential
Project Value: £100m
Completion: 2011
The project:
Woolf – Capita Symonds’ Construction
Management business – worked on the £100m Lancasters development
which involved the conversion of the dilapidated 1970s Lancasters
Hotel into 77 luxury apartments.
Situated near Hyde Park in London, the
building comprises a seven-storey, Grade II-listed mid-19th century
terrace on Bayswater Road. The ultra-prime apartments, which are
already on the market, afford views across a luxury Cote d’Azure
style garden at the front and Hyde Park to the south.
The building's character has been retained by
preserving the original stucco and brick façade which, at 125m long
and 26m high at the front of the building, is thought to be one of
the largest facades in Europe, and is the largest retained Georgian
elevation in the UK.
The Lancasters site also once featured an
elegant 15 house parade which was home to a number of distinguished
Londoners including Admiral Lauderdale, Lord Westbury and Samuel
Courtauld. 13 years in construction, it spanned the Crimean war and
the 19th century housing slump before the entire terrace
was converted to a 392 bedroom hotel in 1970.
Internally the new apartments have been
designed around the grandeur of the original architecture and
interior features of the building. They include classic fibrous
plaster corniced ceilings, replicated period stone fireplaces,
timber panelling and bespoke cabinetry. Contemporary sleek kitchens
and spa-inspired marble clad bathrooms complete the fit-out process
creating a seamless blend of contemporary and traditional
design.
The Woolf team has worked closely and collaboratively with the
developers Minerva and Northarce and principal designers Nilsson
Architects to create one of London’s leading ultra-prime
residential developments.
500 tonnes of steel were used to temporarily
restrain the facade during the demolition of most of the rest of
the building. The project also included the excavation of 24,000 cu
m in front of the facade to help create 31,000 cu m of underground
car park and plant rooms.