Former Great Eastern Hotel

This station hotel was built in 1883–1884 to designs by Charles Barry Junior and his son and partner Charles Edward Barry, with a major extension in 1901 by Colonel Robert William Edis and Maples. Later alterations by Manser Associates and Conran Design were completed in 2000.

Materials and Construction

The building is constructed of red Essex brick with Portland and Corsehill stone dressings, laid over a structural frame combining traditional masonry, wrought iron, rivetted steel and reinforced concrete. The mansard roof is partially covered with copper sheets cut to diamond shapes. The building rises five storeys with three attic storeys and two basement storeys.

Architectural Style and Exterior Design

The building adopts a Renaissance style drawing on several north-European sources. Projecting bands mark the floor levels, with a cornice above the second floor. A balustrade runs along the top of the walling between gabled attic dormers.

South Front (Liverpool Street)

The lengthy south front facing Liverpool Street expresses the building's original dual function as designed by the Barrys: a hotel to the west and a block of restaurants to the east. The lower floors largely retain their original appearance, though the ground floor of the hotel block was altered from a row of shop fronts to extend the central coffee room. At the same time, Edis added an extra floor above the restaurant block to provide additional bedrooms. The roof of the entire building was raised in the 1990s, adding three floors above the parapet and behind the lowest gabled dormers, grouped under a sloping mansard roof covered in metal tiles.

Left of centre stands a portal that originally provided access to a cab entrance leading down to the station platforms. Though it no longer serves this function and now operates as a hotel loading bay, it remains the central emphasis of the façade. It features a wide basket archway at ground level with a moulded surround and projecting quoins. Above this, at first, second and third floor levels, are mullioned and transomed windows of five lights flanked by paired pilasters. Above the balustrade is a dormer with a wide, arched balcony opening and five-light mullioned window. Behind this, a steep roof with small gabled dormers rises to a platform with an octagonal turret of two tiers and an ogee dome.

To the left of this central feature is the original hotel block designed by the Barrys. It has nine bays arranged in a near-symmetrical pattern. The ground floor has Portland stone walling, above which is red brickwork laid in Flemish bond. The corner bays have projecting bands, and upper windows from the first to third floors are arranged in an alternating rhythm of recessed two-light windows and projecting three-light windows with mullions and transoms. The three-light windows have sandstone surrounds with segmental pediments and aprons at first floor level.

To the right of the portal is the dining block of the Barry design. The ground floor here has retained its run of shops. Above are four floors, crowned by attic dormers, contrasting with the three floors above the hotel block. The dining block projects in front of the hotel block, and the corner created by this projection is angled with a frontage of two additional bays. Windows are of four lights with mullions and transoms to the first and second floors, and three lights above. Second floor windows differ from those on the hotel block by having projecting, segmental, relieving arches of Portland stone.

At the far right is a corner pavilion of four taller bays matching the floor heights of the hotel block. This has arched openings to the lower storeys, brackets below the balustrade, and a dormer with pilasters flanked by scroll brackets and a round-arched cap. The corner bay at right is slightly recessed and has a doorway with a stepped relieving arch and a first-floor balcony.

East Front (Bishopsgate)

The eastern frontage to Bishopsgate represents two principal building phases. The four-bay portion at left was originally the termination of the Barrys' restaurant block completed in 1884. It has stone walling to the ground floor with deep brackets dividing the bays and supporting first-floor balconies. Above, windows have arched openings, and the gable has a stepped outline with square turrets to either side. Both turrets and the gable are capped by ogee domes with spike finials.

To the right of this wing, Edis and Maples added a nine-bay extension in 1901. The three right-hand projecting gabled bays of this addition respect the earlier work, though they do not exactly match it. Both sections have square corner turrets and stepped gables with finials to the top and sides. Windows have round-arched heads to the first and second floors and segment arches to the ground floor. Between the gabled wings are seven closely-spaced bays with a central group of three bays forming a frontispiece. This has a doorway to the ground floor flanked by Tuscan columns, rusticated pilasters above, and a shaped gable to the top. At far right, the bay has a doorway with arched windows above.

North Front (Station Side)

The northern side of the hotel, facing the station, is plainer than the south or eastern fronts. It has round-arched openings to the ground floor lighting the Hamilton Hall, square-headed windows to the storeys above, and shaped gables to the attic dormers. At left is an oriel window facing north along Bishopsgate, extending from the first to third floors. The first floor windows here and along part of the eastern Bishopsgate front were blocked in 1912 when the interior was adapted to include the 'Grecian' Masonic Temple, designed by Brown and Barrow.

Further west and inside the station shed, the front continues with the northern portal of the cab ramp, which has a cambered head and projecting stone surround with quoins, as on the south front. Above is a five-light window with a stone surround and scroll brackets to the sides. To the left of this is a doorway, and above it are three panels of carved brick reset here. They are set in a moulded surround and show, in ascending order, a steam locomotive exiting a tunnel, a steam ship flanked by dolphins, and a cherub stoking a boiler. This last panel was one of a series of cherub figures shown undertaking railway tasks that formerly decorated the eastern station extension by Ashbee; it was placed here during the remodelling of the station and hotel at the turn of the 21st century.

To the right of the former cab portal and in line with one of the principal train shed roofs is a symmetrical façade of seven bays gathered under a segmental pediment and dentilled cornice. This has a series of doorways at first floor level leading from the aerial walkway and giving access to the hotel. These were originally window surrounds but have had their sills lowered. The original form of the windows is indicated by their upper rank of lights, which now form fanlights. A five-light central opening is flanked by pairs of three-light openings. In the wide, arched pediment, a central five-light window is set in a semi-circular relieving arch with three-light windows at either side, all with pediment heads. At concourse level, the original arrangement of openings has been replaced by shop fronts.

West Flank

The western flank of the building is partially covered by the four-bay structure designed in around 1997 as a loose imitation of the original office building designed by Edward Wilson and opened in 1876, which does not form part of this listing and is described separately in the List entry for Liverpool Street Station.

Interior

The interior represents several stages of development including the first phase by Charles Barry Junior and Charles Edward Barry, the additions by Colonel Edis and Maples, and the work by Manser and Conran completed in 2000.

The Barry Interiors (1884)

The hotel block of 1884 by the Barrys has, at the centre of the ground floor, the original Coffee Room, which has since served as a restaurant and ballroom but retains the majority of its original appearance and configuration. It is a square room with four square columns defining the central space, which has a glazed dome with panels of stained and moulded glass showing swags and flowers. Further rectangular skylight panels are to the east and west. Ionic pilasters are attached to the central columns and define the panelled bays along the walls. The room was recorded as having red scagliola pilasters, which probably survive beneath later overpainting.

The original entrance lobby, now a small bar, has panelled walls with arched heads and strapwork to the spandrels featuring the entwined initials 'GER'. Above is a dentilled frieze and vaulted ceiling. The floor is terrazzo with mosaic panels and Greek key patterning to the border.

The main staircase in the western block has an open well and an elaborate balustrade of wrought and cast iron scrolls and tendrils with a hardwood handrail. Walls are panelled and ceilings beneath the flights of stairs have strapwork decoration. The topmost ceiling has grilles and pendant bosses to the corners and centre. The staircase is lit by windows facing into the central lightwell and includes a row of six circular windows. Screens of columns divide the staircase landings from the bedroom corridors and have arcades of round arches with prominent quoins, which also appear in the corridors.

Also by the Barrys is the Fenchurch Room at first floor level above the former cab entrance portal. This has a tripartite plan, with a square central space and lateral ante rooms divided by pairs of Ionic columns against the walls supporting transverse beams with cornices. The walls have a series of arched panels and the ceilings have grilles and pendant bosses.

The Middlesex Room at first floor level at the southeast corner of the building has wood panelling below the dado with bolection mouldings to the panels. The panelled ceiling has strapwork decoration and guilloche to the underside of the beams with pendant bosses carrying electroliers that appear to be original fittings of late-19th or early-20th century date.

The masonic temple at upper basement level may also be partly the work of the Barrys. A room by this name is identified on early plans prior to the involvement of Edis and Maples. The room now has Egyptian decoration including door surrounds, ceiling decoration and some cornicing. Photographs show a more elaborate interior, and it may be that this fuller scheme has been covered with plain panels to accommodate the present use as a hotel gymnasium. It is possible that the Egyptian appearance was due to the Barrys, or more likely the result of a reworking of the interior by Edis and Maples.

The Edis and Maples Interiors (1901)

Other notable interiors at ground and first floor levels are largely the work of Colonel Edis and Maples and Company, who redesigned the bedrooms in the hotel block and some of the early Barry interiors in the restaurant block.

The remodelled rooms include the Lady Abercorn's Bar, which is decorated in what the Building News called a 'late Elizabethan style'. It has a richly-patterned and gilded, coved and panelled ceiling divided into nine compartments by cross beams with pendants at the junctions. The walls are divided into bays by fluted Ionic pilasters of wood. Lower walls are panelled and the upper walls have a series of cartouches around circular coats of arms and a richly decorated frame above the bar back with bows and swags surrounding a canvas showing a view along Bishopsgate in the 17th century, including Sir Peter Pindar's house, which stood close to the site of the hotel. The bar front and counter date from 1999.

The eastern staircase, by Edis and Maples, is of figured marble with marble treads and vase-shaped balusters. At its base is a screen of paired Tuscan columns. The dado panelling is clad in marble, as are the arched entrances to bedroom corridors at ascending levels.

The Hamilton Hall was the largest function room of the hotel and has a sumptuous 18th century French aesthetic based on that of the Hôtel de Soubise in Paris. It has Rococo plasterwork, entwined figures in relief, and panels painted on canvas as overdoors after Boucher and Trémolièrs. Mirrors echo the windows along the side walls. Adjoining is the Hamilton anteroom, which is divided into two by fluted Ionic columns and has grisaille panels to the walls.

Other rooms by the Edis and Maples partnership include the Middlesex ante room and the Lincolnshire Room, which share panelled walls and 18th century-style door and fire surrounds.

The Cambridge and Essex rooms at basement level formed part of the additions by Edis and Maples and are now retail outlets approached from the station concourse. The Cambridge room, which was originally a dining room and labelled on early plans by Edis as the 'Clerks Dining Room', retains its plan and has a French 18th century aesthetic, divided into two by paired pilasters supporting cross-axial entablatures to either side. The ceiling has plaster garlands in relief and the walls have their moulded doorcases and doors and mirrored panels with surrounds. The Essex room has an 18th century English appearance with wood panelled walls to full height and Ionic pilasters with cornice and beamed ceiling. The fireplace on the western wall has a bolection moulded marble fire surround, and the overmantel has carved wooden swags and fruit.

The Greek Masonic Temple (1912)

The Greek masonic temple at first floor level was designed in 1912 by Brown and Barrow and is sumptuous in its decoration, employing motifs from ancient Greece. It has a chequered black and white marble floor. Walls are clad with red and cream marble veneer and have a series of square niches flanked by Ionic columns. Wooden benches line the lower walls and there are thrones with aedicular surrounds to the centre of both southern and northern ends. An organ at the north end is partly screened by further Ionic columns. The coffered ceiling has a circular panel to its centre with a sunburst in relief surrounded by signs of the zodiac. The room is entered from its south-western corner by a curved flight of marble stairs leading down from a lobby which has a bronze bust of the Duke of Connaught, the Grand Master at the time the temple was built. Columns supporting globes flank the temple door. The ante room beyond, which was reordered by Manser, has panelled walls and fire surround, and the double doors to the temple room have rich panelled decoration with ebony discs and lion masks.

The Manser and Conran Remodelling (1999–2000)

The remodelling of the hotel in 1999–2000 by Manser and Conran caused the loss of the Norfolk and Suffolk rooms designed by Edis and Maples. This space and the amalgamation of two internal lightwells allowed the creation of a new entrance lobby and atrium. Bedrooms look down through square or circular windows into the atrium, which also holds a bank of three lifts housed in an oval structure covered with wire mesh. A circular light well placed in the centre of each of the bedroom landings allows further light to enter the building from above. Bedrooms housed in the attic storeys have circular windows placed in the roof slopes looking out across the City.