Planning Approved For 1 Farringdon

Planning approved! Great news for our project to convert Gate House, a six-storey office building in the City of London, into a hotel.

Earlier this year, we submitted plans to extend and convert 1 Farringdon Street into a new 85-room hotel to serve the City’s growing tourist and business market. Our proposals reuse the existing building and target BREEAM Excellent. We’re delighted they have been approved – and just before Christmas!

The design is contemporary, but respectful of the setting close to St Paul’s Cathedral, with a materials palette of brick, Portland stone and bronzed zinc. Plans include a new mansard setback, with slim arched windows to reference the detailing of the lower levels. A roof garden with a terrace has views to the west, giving a new perspective on the steeple of Hawksmoor’s writers’ church, St Brides, which he designed while working for Sir Christopher Wren. This level will be accessed by new lifts, concealed within a false brick chimney. At ground floor are further new café and dining spaces with co-working facilities, supporting plans to make Ludgate Circus more inviting and accessible for pedestrians.

“A wonderful end to the year! The building has an ideal location in terms of serving visitors to the City. It’s close to St Paul’s Cathedral, the new Museum of London, the Elizabeth Line, and within the burgeoning Fleet Street Quarter, which is turning a too often overlooked part of London into a fantastic destination. Well done to the whole team, a tremendous effort.” – Chris