The St. Giles
Hotel occupies a city block stretching back
from Tottenham Court Road. The mixed use
building is also home to the Central London
YMCA and a variety of retail units. This
was once the site of a rather grand Edwardian
building that contained the YMCA.
The
"postwarbuildings.com" website explains
that in the 1970s, "... London
was experiencing a boom in hotel
development spurred by the increasing
economic importance of attracting
tourism. Many schemes of the time
often received favourable planning
consent and developers received
government subsides per room as part
of legislation brought in by the
Development of Tourism Act of 1969.
Other schemes of the time included the
Sheraton Park Tower on Knightsbridge
and the Tower Thistle in St
Katherine’s Dock."
This building is
composed of four towers arranged in
parallel above a two storey podium.
These blocks are of various heights
ranging from 6 to 12 storeys. The
towers are tapered at the ends to provide
the hotel rooms with views of the street.
The
"postwarbuildings.com" website adds that,
"... The visual
effect of the YMCA and St Giles
complex is uncompromising. Recent
attempts to soften the impact of so
much exposed, hard edged concrete with
such familiar devices as hanging
baskets and planters has served only
to make the whole appear slightly
tawdry. Its brutal shape making and
confident structural gesturing does
not sit easily with the accepted
building forms around it. It does not
adhere to the traditional rules of
street architecture and follows its
own logic to create an assertive form
based around that of its function- to
provide naturally lit rooms and lots
of them."
