PROJECT REPORT: HOTELS, RESTAURANTS & BARS 35
THE CHANCERY ROSEWOOD LONDON
A greener kind of grandeur
The transformation of the former US Embassy in London into a fi ve-star hotel by David Chipperfi eld Architects delivers an adaptive reuse with high-end luxury and BREEAM Outstanding sustainability credentials, despite whole life carbon compromises, says Stephen Cousins.
A
t a time when the ‘special relationship’ between the UK and the US is under pressure, due to differing security strategies and tensions over military operations in the Middle East, it is gratifying to report on the restoration and revamp of a building constructed when the partnership was at its zenith. David Chipperfi eld Architects’ (DCA’s) transformation of the former US Embassy in Grosvenor Square, originally designed by famous Finnish-American architect Eero Saarinen between 1957 and 1960, takes great pains to protect and restore the Grade II-listed structure. It also dials up the ‘bling’ factor to 11, with plush new interiors masterminded by French designer Joseph Dirand to meet the high standards required of a 5-star luxury hotel. Britain’s fi rst modern embassy was created at the apotheosis of the US post- war embassy-building programme, its
importance underscored by the fact it was the only such project designed through a competition.
Not many hotels have stone facades decorated with gold anodized aluminium, and fewer still have a gold-plated eagle with a 35-foot wingspan perched on the rooftop. In creating a 137-bedroom hotel for The Rosewood Chancery, Chipperfi eld retained and restored these features, alongside other elements, including a signature diagrid ceiling of intersecting concrete beams, which was also expanded. Doubling the building’s area from 25,000 m2
to 48,000 m2 nevertheless
required signifi cant interventions, including digging down 20 metres to expand the basement to house a gigantic new ballroom, spa complex with swimming pool and MVHR plant and ‘stretching’ the facade to add a much taller sixth storey. Passive design and energy effi ciency
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