Design
While it might be imaginary, Anderson’s jumbled aesthetic has been formative. In the words of architect and design critic Edward Heathcote, “it might well be the greatest single influence on contemporary hotel design over the past decade”. Fortunately, not all hotel designers need to create historical fables. Sometimes that history is ingrained into the very fabric of a building. Take Whitehall’s Old War Office (OWO), soon to become a historic Raffles hotel. Originally completed in 1906, and designed by British architect William Young, the trapezoid structure has stood witness to many world-shaping events. It’s offices once housed the likes of Winston Churchill, David Lloyd George and John Profumo, and Ian Fleming, whose work in Naval Intelligence operations at The OWO informed his fictional spy novels.
Legacy design
The legacy was undoubtedly attractive to Accor who selected the property as the ideal site for the UK’s first Raffles hotel. In 2022, a monumental five- year transformation will see The OWO open its 125 rooms and suites and 85 unique branded residences to the public.
“This is not contemporary. We are building a very timeless, very classical hotel,” says Anne Becker Olins, senior vice president for luxury brands Europe, design & technical service at Accor. “I think with this building, you’d be stupid to change anything. What we’re doing is restoring it.” An experienced hotel designer, Becker Olins has worked on a number of prestigious projects, not least the much revered Peninsula hotel in Hong Kong, which blends colonial-style old school luxury with distinctly Asian elements. She first inherited the project in summer 2018, charged with overseeing its delicate restoration, and despite visiting The OWO around 50 times since, the sheer scale of the building remains astonishing. “I know that the OWO will be very unique. And I can tell you why because no one has the spaces,” Becker Olins explains. “When you walk in, you have triple height spaces, you have seven metre ballroom heights, you have staircases [that go on] forever. And when you come into the courtyard, you see the volumes. It’s about space. And these days space is a value that you can’t measure.” Of course, part of the brief has been to retain the venue’s baroque heritage, while at the same time install the necessary fittings and fixtures that will enable it to function as a contemporary London hotel. The basements, Becker Olins admits, “took forever”, as did concealing the myriad gadgets and wires needed to power air conditioning, lighting, security and fire alarms to enable The OWO to function. By
Hotel Management International /
www.hmi-online.com
burying these modern necessities out the way, the building’s deep historical roots can take centre stage. “Whenever I have British visitors with me walking the sites, and they stand in these famous offices, like Churchill’s office, they have tears in their eyes. Seriously, big, strong, grown-up men because it’s very touching,” Becker Olins says. “I’m an architect, I feel people react to space. Even under construction, there are 900, sometimes 1200 people on site right now. Even with all these people around you feel the history.” Whether they’re making newbuilds feel old or reshaping the interiors of old courts and war offices, hotel designers are seemingly tapping into a yearning for a romanticised past. What is it, then, about the human capacity for history worship and fanciful nostalgia that endures?
The lobby and reception at the 5* Beaumont Hotel in Mayfair.
“We’re all storytellers innately. In the 1920s, when it comes to hotels there’s no competition. It’s a narrative that makes people feel all sorts of things. We buy into an experience because it’s theatre.”
James Twomey
“We are all affected and stimulated by historical and personal nostalgia, most of us are shamelessly sentimental and have a wistful affection for the past,” Twomey says, adding that nostalgia is “closely linked to storytelling and storytelling is innate in all human beings”. “It’s probably one of the remaining values we have,” Becker Olins concludes. “I think we are surrounded by constantly changing things. We are overloaded with information and new trends. Nostalgia gives us a feeling of safety. A feeling of comfort.” ●
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