Westminster City Council's Strategic Planning Committee has granted listed building consent and planning permission for significant alterations and extensions to the Grade II listed Columbia Hotel at 95-99 Lancaster Gate.

The approval allows for roof extensions and alterations to provide additional hotel accommodation, including 22 new hotel bedrooms. A roof terrace for restaurant and bar use, along with ground floor restaurant seating, has also been permitted. Internal reconfigurations aim to improve accessibility, fire safety, and event spaces within the historic building.

Architectural rendering of the proposed extensions and alterations to the Grade II listed Columbia Hotel at 95-99 Lancaster Gate.
Architectural rendering of the proposed extensions and alterations to the Grade II listed Columbia Hotel at 95-99 Lancaster Gate.

The decision was made despite objections from local residents and ward councillors concerning the potential impact of extended operating hours for the hotel's ancillary event spaces on residential amenity. However, the committee noted that the applicant, The Hotel York Holdings Limited, presented an amended Operational Management Plan that includes reduced operating hours for the roof terrace and ground floor seating areas, along with specific restrictions on amplified music.

The reduced operating hours for the roof terrace and ground floor seating areas are as follows:

  • Roof Garden Restaurant and Bar: Monday to Saturday 09:00 to 22:00; Sundays 09:00 - 21:30. Following 21:30 (Monday to Sunday), tables and chairs will not be available for seating.
  • Ground Floor Garden: Monday to Saturday 09:00 to 22:00; Sundays 09:00 - 21:30.

Specific restrictions on amplified music include: Condition 26 states: No amplified music from the external areas (roof terrace and ground floor seating area) shall be audible from residential properties.

Officers considered the proposals to offer significant heritage benefits, including the reinstatement of missing principal staircases and the improvement of room proportions. These benefits were deemed to outweigh the less-than-substantial harm caused to the listed building by the loss of historic fabric and alterations to the roof structure. The committee acknowledged that the hotel's continued use as a place of accommodation and hospitality is a key aspect of its historical significance.

The reinstatement of missing principal staircases to nos. 97 and 98 is envisioned as a rare and substantial heritage benefit that does weigh considerably in favour of the wider scheme. This work, which is described as a very skilled and detailed package of work, would reinstate some of the most principal architecture of the building. This benefit is proposed as a balance to the harm caused to the front rooms of 95 and 96. It is recommended that this work be substantially completed prior to key harmful elements of the scheme, such as the works to the front rooms of 95 and 96.

Improved room proportions are also a key heritage benefit. On the upper floors, existing modern partitions will be removed, and alterations to older partitions will create two bedrooms per 'bay', converting spaces currently occupied by three rooms into two. This will enable a considerable improvement to the spatial character of these rooms, allowing for better presentation of remaining historic ceilings and an improved relationship between internal walls and windows. On the first floor, modern partitions in the main bedroom suites to no.95 will be removed and replanned to better represent their original form.

The Columbia Hotel at 95-99 Lancaster Gate, a Grade II listed building.
The Columbia Hotel at 95-99 Lancaster Gate, a Grade II listed building.

The meeting information details several instances of historic fabric being lost or altered, contributing to 'less-than-substantial harm' to the listed building:

  • Loss of historic fabric and alterations to the roof structure: The proposal to replace the main roof in its entirety would cause a notable degree of harm to the listed building, through the loss, or at least substantive disassembly, of the main historic roofs, chimneys and party wall upstands of all five houses. While some timbers would be reused, it is considered a substantive rebuild of the roof.
  • Ground floor dining rooms: A new opening is proposed in the party wall into no.96, and the original corridor wall is proposed to be opened up, creating a new conjoined pair of Dining Rooms. This is described as a considerable change affecting a highly decorative wall on the side of no.95, and notably altering the planform between corridor and front room on the side of 96. This would result in a considerable loss of historic fabric and some decorative detail, and also to some degradation of the planform of both 95 and 96.
  • Second floor sashes to French doors: This would cause a low level of harm to the listed building through the loss of the original sash windows, and the architectural change to doors.
  • Alteration of main staircase balustrade to 95: The decorative cast iron balustrade is proposed to be altered to raise its height to meet modern fall safety standards.
  • Secondary balustrades to first and second floors: These would be slightly visible from the street, and would detract to some degree from the purity of the façade, adding an element of architectural clutter.
  • Lower ground floor to street level service lift: This would require the front railings to be altered to become a pair of gates, and also the removal of the low plinth wall upon which the railings currently sit. This, and the appearance of the lift machinery in the lightwell, would cause a low degree of harm to the appearance of the front elevation.

Sustainability improvements, such as the installation of air source heat pumps for heating and hot water, were also highlighted as contributing to the building's extended lifetime and reduced reliance on fossil fuels.

Conditions have been attached to ensure compliance with relevant policies regarding cycle parking and waste management. Condition 10 states: You must provide each cycle parking space shown on the approved drawings prior to occupation of the development. Thereafter the cycle spaces must be retained and the space used for no other purpose. The proposal includes 12 long term and 12 short stay cycle parking spaces. Condition 11 states: The provision for the storage of waste and recyclable materials for the development, as shown on the approved drawings is to be made permanently available and used for no other purpose. No waste is to be left on the highway. These conditions are monitored and enforced by the City Council.

More details on the applications can be found in the Public reports pack.