Hotel Gallery

Bricklaying JLP01_08_087537

Royal Scot Hotel, King's Cross Road, Islington, Greater London. Bricklayers at work building the interior walls of the Royal Scot Hotel during its construction.
Construction of the seven-storey Royal Scot Hotel at Percy Circus began in 1970. The structure was built of loadbearing brickwork in order to avoid a chain reaction in the case of wall collapse due to fire or explosion. Large quantities of bricks were therefore needed, which were delivered from Woodside Brickworks in Norwood and the Redland brick company in Horsham. The topping out ceremony was held on 23rd March 1972 and the hotel was officially opened on 14th November 1972. When it opened, the hotel had just fewer than 350 bedrooms, each with a private bathroom, as well as a restaurant, coffee shop, cocktail bar and lounge bar, a functions suite, and car park

© Historic England Archive

Central London YMCA JLP01_10_03687

Central London YMCA, Great Russell Street, Camden, Greater London. An elevated view of the Central London YMCA from the north-west, with scaffolding and hoardings around the lower storey of the west facade of the podium.
It was announced in February 1971 that Laing had started work on a new building at Central London YMCA, to replace an existing building which had opened in the 1910s. The project comprised four residential towers between 6 and 12 storeys high, above a podium. The towers would accommodate 1,200 residents in over 700 single and double bedrooms; staff would be accommodated in penthouse suits on the top of the three lower towers. The towers were built on a two-storey podium containing restaurants, offices, a public library, and shops. Beneath the buildings were basements 16 metres below street level, for car parks, a swimming pool, a gymnasium, a sports hall, and a conference centre. The basements and podium, which were built using reinforced concrete and structural steel, comprised Phase I of the project. The towers were built in Phase II. They were clad in 2,000 precast concrete panels and used deeply moulded white concrete window panels, both manufactured by John Laing Concrete in Princes Risborough. The building was completed in 1977, though it was partially occupied by October 1976

© Historic England Archive

Central London YMCA JLP01_08_761537

Central London YMCA, Great Russell Street, Camden, Greater London. The structurally-complete tower blocks of the Central London YMCA, with scaffolding erected around the two-storey podium below, viewed from the south-east.
It was announced in February 1971 that Laing had started work on a new building at Central London YMCA, to replace an existing building which had opened in the 1910s. The project comprised four residential towers between 6 and 12 storeys high, above a podium. The towers would accommodate 1,200 residents in over 700 single and double bedrooms; staff would be accommodated in penthouse suits on the top of the three lower towers. The towers were built on a two-storey podium containing restaurants, offices, a public library, and shops. Beneath the buildings were basements 16 metres below street level, for car parks, a swimming pool, a gymnasium, a sports hall, and a conference centre. The basements and podium, which were built using reinforced concrete and structural steel, comprised Phase I of the project. The towers were built in Phase II. They were clad in 2,000 precast concrete panels and used deeply moulded white concrete window panels, both manufactured by John Laing Concrete in Princes Risborough. The building was completed in 1977, though it was partially occupied by October 1976

© Historic England Archive