LHG gets green light to convert former Greenwich Magistrates’ Court into a boutique hotel

22 January 2020

London Hotel Group (LHG) has secured planning permission to turn the former Greenwich Magistrates’ Court into a boutique hotel.

The Grade II-listed building, as well as two adjacent empty school buildings which date back to 1892 and 1903 respectively, will be turned into a 293-bed property scheduled to open in 2022 at cost of £70m. The plans were submitted in June 2019.

The court building in Blackheath Road dates back to the early 20th century. It included two courts and a police station when built in 1909 with a third courtroom added around 1960. The government closed the court in May 2016 and sold the building for £12 million.

The rear of the development site neighbours the Doubletree Greenwich hotel which was created in a former Metropolitan Police section house and opened under the Mercure brand in 2012.

Squire & Partners’ design for the scheme is sympathetic to its physical and historical context, replacing a number of later extensions and alterations with four linear rows of quality contemporary buildings which will use a discreet, pared back palette of colours and materials. The buildings’ heights, varying from two to seven storeys, are staggered sensitively across the rear of the site, opening up the area and allowing the natural light to neighbouring properties.

The ground floor of the former Magistrates’ Court and one of the school buildings will contain front of house hotel services such as bar, restaurant and café, giving the buildings a new life and creating new amenities for both hotel guests and local residents.

The new scheme will also include a range of public, semi-public and private green spaces, including a new public square, built around an existing mature tree, and animated by a restaurant or cafe.

Further facilities will include a gym, pool, conference centres and generous parking spaces.

Meher Nawab, CEO, LHG: “We are delighted to have achieved planning consent for this high-quality development that is not only respectful to the local heritage - particularly regarding the Magistrates’ Court – but will also bring this brownfield site back into vibrant and viable use. As ever, our focus is to create considerate, design-led quality developments that will boost the local areas in terms of their economy, employment opportunities and their community.”

LHGs existing properties include Best Western sites in Peckham, Croydon, Wembley and Crystal Palace, and Ibis Styles hotels in Croydon and Walthamstow. In eth last year the family run business accommodated more than one million guests across its portfolio of hotels.

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