The legendary television tower in central London, BT Tower, is to be converted into a luxury hotel. The BT Group, owner of the listed tower, is selling the building, which has a total height of almost 190 meters, to the US hotel operator MCR for £275 million. “This deal with MCR will allow the BT Tower to take on a new role and preserve this iconic building for decades to come,” said BT manager Brent Mathews.
MCR Hotels, the third-largest hotel operator in the United States, has experience converting iconic buildings into hotels, most notably the Eero Saarinen-designed TWA Terminal at New York’s JFK Airport. It said it would work with London-based Heatherwick Studio on the BT Tower. London is experiencing a boom in five-star hotels, including a multi-million pound refurbishment of Claridges and the opening of Peninsula London and Raffles London at The OWO last year. As a hotel, the BT Tower will also compete with hotels such as the Shangri-La at The Shard, now London’s tallest building.
The BT Tower is a symbol of the revival of the war-torn English capital in the 1960s. With a rotating restaurant on the 34th floor, it was the city’s tallest building for 16 years until it was surpassed in 1980 by a skyscraper in the City of London’s financial district. Opened in 1965 by Prime Minister Harold Wilson, its central role in communications has since faded. Its antennas were removed more than a decade ago when they were no longer needed to connect London to the rest of the country. The building was widely known as the Post Office Tower from its completion until the privatization of British Telecom in 1984. It was closed to the public after a bomb allegedly planted by a far-left anarchist collective exploded at the site in 1971. In recent years, it has become best known for its 360-degree LED display, which broadcasts news of major events such as the births of royal babies and sporting victories.