The entrance to the ME Hotel sits on the corner of Aldwych and the Strand.  The 5 star hotel and the adjoining Marconi House form an essentially triangular block with Montreal Place forming the third leg.  In 1903 the Gaiety Theatre occupied the Aldwych / Strand corner and in 1904 another building containing the Gaiety Restaurant was built beside it on the Strand and extending along Montreal Place.  Included in this building was also the Gaiety Hotel and a number of serviced apartments.  In 1912 this building was purchased by the Marconi Company and it was converted into the headquarters of this emerging communications company.  The building was renamed Marconi House.  In 1946 English Electric took over Marconi and became the owners of Marconi House.  They then purchased the rest of the block including what had been the Gaiety Theatre.  Nine years later they commissioned the redevelopment of the whole block, first demolishing the Gaiety Theatre and then adding a new building on that corner and combining it with Marconi House into a single office complex.  The new building was called English Electric House.  Then in the 1970s City Bank took over the building and instituted a refurbishment of the Marconi House part.

Fast forward to 2005 and with planning permission and listed building consent Foster + Partners were commissioned to replace what had been English Electric House with a 5 star hotel and convert Marconi House into what its owners describe as, “An architectural masterpiece within the Strand Conservation area providing 86 magnificent luxury apartments and penthouses created within an imposing Grade II Listed facade.”  The plan called for Marconi House to be gutted with only the facade retained.



Foster’s website describes the ME Hotel as a unique opportunity for them to design every aspect of the building down to the bathroom fixtures.  The hotel says that it offers, “ ... 157 exquisitely designed, modern rooms, including 16 suites; two New York restaurants; Roof Bar with outdoor terrace and spectacular panoramic views of London and Marconi Lounge; 7 meeting rooms with capacity for up to 300 people and a separate reception area; a modern, fully equipped gym, open 24 hours a day and high speed WiFi internet.”  Foster + Partners website points out that, “Arriving guests pass through the ground floor lounge and ascend to a dedicated hotel lobby and champagne bar on the first floor, which is located within the soaring volume of a nine-storey-high pyramid. Clad in white marble, and naturally lit from above, the pyramid engenders a strikingly theatrical sense of arrival. ... The pyramid volume at the heart of the triangular plan generates an efficient floor layout, culminating in a generous roof garden and bar terraces. The 157 rooms were extensively prototyped and every detail – from the white leather walls to the marble bathrooms – was carefully considered.”