St. Pancras Renaissance Hotel London
The St. Pancras Renaissance London Hotel forms the frontispiece of St Pancras railway station in St Pancras, London. The station is one of the main rail termini in London and the final stop for international trains departing to Paris, Brussels, Amsterdam and other destinations in mainland Europe. It re-opened in 2011, and occupies much of the former Midland Grand Hotel designed by George Gilbert Scott which opened in 1873 and closed in 1935. The hotel is managed by Marriott International.
St. Pancras Renaissance London Hotel
The building as a whole including the apartments is known as St Pancras Chambers and between 1935 and the 1980s was used as railway offices.. The upper levels of the original building were redeveloped between 2005 and 2011 as apartments by the Manhattan Loft Corporation. Its clock tower stands at 76 m (249 ft) tall, with more than half its height usable.
Hotels history
In 1865 the Midland Railway Company held a competition for the design of a 150-bed hotel to be constructed next to its railway station, St Pancras, which was still under construction at the time. Eleven designs were submitted, including one by George Gilbert Scott, which, at 300 rooms, was much bigger and more expensive than the original specifications. Despite this, the company liked his plans and construction began.[3] Scott's design was for a hotel with five floors below roof level but in the event it was built with four (which remains the case today) to save on construction costs – although the Midland Railway frequently reproduced Scott's original impression, showing the hotel with its non-existent top floor, in its publicity material. The east wing opened on 5 May 1873,[9] with the Midland Railway appointing Herr Etzensberger (formerly of the Victoria Hotel, Venice) as general manager. The hotel was completed in spring 1876.[10]
Design of the Midland Grand Hotel St Pancras, showing the fifth floor which was not built, c. 1876
The hotel was expensive, with costly fixtures including a grand staircase, rooms with gold leaf walls and a fireplace in every room. It had many innovative features such as hydraulic lifts, concrete floors, revolving doors and fireproof floor constructions, though none of the rooms had bathrooms, as was the convention of the time.
The hotel was taken over by the London, Midland and Scottish Railway in 1922 before closing in 1935, by which time its utilities were outdated and too costly to maintain, such as the armies of servants needed to carry chamber pots, tubs, bowls and spittoons.
After closing as a hotel, the building was renamed St Pancras Chambers and used as railway offices, eventually for British Rail.
British Rail had hoped to demolish it, but was thwarted in a high-profile campaign by Jane Hughes Fawcett and her colleagues at the Victorian Society, a historic preservationist organisation founded in part to preserve the Victorian railways and other buildings. Officials dubbed Jane Fawcett the "furious Mrs Fawcett" for her unceasing efforts, and in 1967, the Hotel and the St Pancras station received Grade I listed status.
The building continued its use as rail offices, until the 1980s when it failed fire safety regulations and was shut down. The exterior was restored and made structurally sound at a cost of around £10 million in the 1990s.[
St. Pancras Renaissance Hotel London
The St. Pancras Renaissance London Hotel forms the frontispiece of St Pancras railway station in St Pancras, London. The station is one of the main rail termini in London and the final stop for international trains departing to Paris, Brussels, Amsterdam and other destinations in mainland Europe. It re-opened in 2011, and occupies much of the former Midland Grand Hotel designed by George Gilbert Scott which opened in 1873 and closed in 1935. The hotel is managed by Marriott International.
St. Pancras Renaissance London Hotel
The building as a whole including the apartments is known as St Pancras Chambers and between 1935 and the 1980s was used as railway offices.. The upper levels of the original building were redeveloped between 2005 and 2011 as apartments by the Manhattan Loft Corporation. Its clock tower stands at 76 m (249 ft) tall, with more than half its height usable.
Hotels history
In 1865 the Midland Railway Company held a competition for the design of a 150-bed hotel to be constructed next to its railway station, St Pancras, which was still under construction at the time. Eleven designs were submitted, including one by George Gilbert Scott, which, at 300 rooms, was much bigger and more expensive than the original specifications. Despite this, the company liked his plans and construction began.[3] Scott's design was for a hotel with five floors below roof level but in the event it was built with four (which remains the case today) to save on construction costs – although the Midland Railway frequently reproduced Scott's original impression, showing the hotel with its non-existent top floor, in its publicity material. The east wing opened on 5 May 1873,[9] with the Midland Railway appointing Herr Etzensberger (formerly of the Victoria Hotel, Venice) as general manager. The hotel was completed in spring 1876.[10]
Design of the Midland Grand Hotel St Pancras, showing the fifth floor which was not built, c. 1876
The hotel was expensive, with costly fixtures including a grand staircase, rooms with gold leaf walls and a fireplace in every room. It had many innovative features such as hydraulic lifts, concrete floors, revolving doors and fireproof floor constructions, though none of the rooms had bathrooms, as was the convention of the time.
The hotel was taken over by the London, Midland and Scottish Railway in 1922 before closing in 1935, by which time its utilities were outdated and too costly to maintain, such as the armies of servants needed to carry chamber pots, tubs, bowls and spittoons.
After closing as a hotel, the building was renamed St Pancras Chambers and used as railway offices, eventually for British Rail.
British Rail had hoped to demolish it, but was thwarted in a high-profile campaign by Jane Hughes Fawcett and her colleagues at the Victorian Society, a historic preservationist organisation founded in part to preserve the Victorian railways and other buildings. Officials dubbed Jane Fawcett the "furious Mrs Fawcett" for her unceasing efforts, and in 1967, the Hotel and the St Pancras station received Grade I listed status.
The building continued its use as rail offices, until the 1980s when it failed fire safety regulations and was shut down. The exterior was restored and made structurally sound at a cost of around £10 million in the 1990s.[