Great Eastern Hotel
Architect The Manser Practice; Interiors: Conran
Lighting consultant DPA Lighting Consultants/Maurice Brill
Client Great Eastern Hotel
The Great Eastern Hotel has had a somewhat
chequered history from its early promise as
one of London’s great railway hotels at the
end of the nineteenth century, similar to
those at St. Pancras, Paddington or Euston.
Completed in 1884 and extended in 1899^
1901, it had suffered serious dereliction and
neglect.
Its close connection to Liverpool Street
station had not served it well, with a
carriageway to serve the station below
severing the building and with railway
platforms below forcing the kitchens to be
located at the fourth floor level, it was far
from being ideal.
The redevelopment of the hotel by the
Manser Practice, with interiors by Conran is
an extraordinary achievement, in which the
hotel now has all the advantages of modern
servicing together with the calm interiors of a
bygone age. It is of interest that the Manser
Practice was responsible for the first really
modern hotel built in this country, at
Heathrow Terminal 4 (see Case Study 32 in
Lighting Modern Buildings) and that in this
reconstruction project they have brought all
the expertise of creating beautiful daylit
spaces learnt from the new.
The success of the daylighting design can be
boiled down to three main areas: the Lift
Lobby and Atrium, the Main Dining room,
and the Bedrooms.The lift lobby and atrium
A ‘borehole’ of light, a circular lightwell,
penetrates the ceiling of the entrance lobby,
rising through the full height of the building.
This entrance lobby leads to the main atrium
formed by extending two existing light wells,
which rise throughout the building, the glazed
roof of which provides daylight to adjacent
bedrooms in addition to funnelling light
below.
A decision was made to acid etch the
under-surface of the glass, not only to reduce
glare but to provide a continually changing
pattern of reflections to the atrium walls; and
to add to the appearance at night by means of
12 volt spots concealed in the sills of the
bedroom windows, lighting upwards to the
roof. The spots add a starlight appearance to
the space at night.The main dining room
By developing a lightwell in the older 1884
part of the building, this allowed a daylight
rooflight to be introduced into the building at
a position central to the main restaurant. The
rooflight is a flamboyant design which fits well
with the hotel’s antecedents.Whilst clearly the amount of daylight
available is insufficient for everyday restaurant
use, it does mean that during the day the
room has an impression of being lit by natural
light even on dull days, an important aspect
particularly at breakfast, whilst on bright days
the amount of natural light is significant.The bedrooms
The number of bedrooms was increased from
140 to 270, making the whole project viable.
By stripping off the existing roof and
mansard floor, it enabled this to be replaced
by a new copper mansard, containing two to
three floors. Each of the rooms were given a
quality or character, particular to the hotel
period, whilst in some cases balconies were
provided.
Daylight was of the essence, to provide an
atmosphere very different from the standard
London hotel, where possible with views out
towards London. It is hard to know whether
the guests will be impressed by this, but it
must have some impact on the question of
energy control, a subject which may have
more meaning in the future. It is important to
know that daylight has informed the design.102 Daylighting: Natural Light in Architecture
The Manser PracticeSite Plan