 |
The Great Eastern Hotel re-opened its doors - and 267 bedrooms, four restaurants, four bars, gym, treatment rooms and 12 private dining and event rooms - on 28 February 2000.
The Grade-II listed hotel was originally built in two phases and is the largest hotel in the City of London financial district. Its west block, designed by Charles Barry, opened in 1884; the east, to designs by Colonel W. Edis, in 1901. However, the new refurbishment - by Manser Associates and Conran & Partners - revives the Victorian splendour of the original but injects a strong spirit of modernity: the new sits alongside the old, the classic is given a twist.
The over-riding concept for the project might be summarised as modern classic'. The challenge, both aesthetically and operationally, is to establish a shared vocabulary throughout the hotel - modern, optimistic, quirky, professional, comfortable - but at the same time to revel in its juxtapositions and complexity.
Variety comes in many forms: Each of the restaurants and bars is a distinctive entity, with its own entrance on Liverpool Street or Bishopsgate, and a strong identity - Terminus re-interprets the classic railway buffet-brasserie for the 21st century; Fishmarket occupies a sea-green room beneath the gaze of plaster cherubs; Aurora is grand and seriously beautiful; George is a Victorian take on a Tudor, oak-panelled room; Miyabi offers bento-box take-aways from a sleekly modern counter.
The food served in each restaurant is equally distinctive - from fish and crustacea in Fishmarket to meat pies and roast-beef sandwiches in George; from sushi and sashimi in Miyabi to classically inspired dishes using the finest seasonal ingredients in Aurora. No two bedrooms are the same: rooms on the fifth and sixth floor have a light and airy 'loft' feel; those on the lower floors have higher ceilings and period features. The rooms in the east block are detailed with ornate features typical of late Victoriana, whilst those in the west block are more restrained.
None the less, the rooms are united by a notably modern sensibility: in the graphics, in the use of colour, and in the choice of furniture and fittings.
All of the guestrooms are equipped with an ergonomically designed workstation with a high specification of IT infrastructure: two-line telephones, fax, modem, ISDN, etc. This technology is concealed largely within the desk, and the rooms have been designed to be comfortable and easy rather than cold and impersonal.
The new, imposing atrium that rises through six floors above the hotel Lobby leads into some of the most striking Victorian private dining rooms. The rooms have been equipped with state-of-the-art telecommunications and audio-visual technology. The hotel sits at the eastern edges of the city. The new, imposing atrium that rises through six floors above the hotel Lobby leads into some of the most striking Victorian private dining rooms. The rooms have been equipped with state-of-the-art telecommunications and audio-visual technology. The hotel sits at the eastern edges of the City of London, Europe's business capital, but also borders the more creative neighbourhoods of Spitalfields, Hoxton and Shoreditch to the east. As such, the hotel is in a position to broker new relationships between art and commerce, business and leisure. The Great Hotel is a resource for both Londoners and visitors to London, alike, and like the capital itself is many different things to many different people. Respectful of the past but confident of the future, the Great Eastern Hotel is a modern, British classic.
|
