Regent Palace Hotel

The proactive and creative contribution by English Heritage and Westminster City Council provided the basis on which The Crown Estate could develop this critically important 1 million sq ft £750m Regent Street regeneration scheme. David Shaw, Head of Retail Portfolio, The Crown Estate

Our meeting on site with English Heritage was absolutely central in unlocking our approach to this challenging project. Jeremy Dixon, Partner, Dixon Jones

The Regent Palace Hotel near Piccadilly Circus is one of central London’s more unexpected treats; an enormous 1915 Beaux Arts Baroque structure with later Art Deco embellishment. It was famed among overseas visitors for its cheap rates and faded elegance. The grade II listed building occupies a triangular block with grand façades enriching each corner.

Initial plans for development involved a complete demolition of the hotel, but English Heritage assessed where the building’s heritage values lay, understood what the Crown Estate wanted to achieve and worked with Westminster City Council throughout to suggest ways of creating a viable scheme.

English Heritage advised that, in this case, if the building’s significant rooms and proportions could be retained within a sensitively designed modern structure, some demolition could be acceptable. Indeed, the right approach could actually reinforce the historic character of the area. All involved agreed that an active ground-floor frontage, accommodating shops and other facilities, would return these underused and run-down streets to the mainstream of the West End. The Crown Estate welcomed the solution as an improvement on its original intentions.