Plans progress for huge hotel

A London investment company “will be making appointments” to design what could be the capital’s biggest hotel, if it is successful in a current planning application.

Blackfriars Investments has acquired Liverpool Victoria House, which occupies more than 41 000m2 in Bloomsbury, for 30m. It has applied for planning permission to convert the giant Grade II listed building, built as the headquarters of the Liverpool Victoria Friendly Society, into a 450-bedroom hotel complete with nightclubs and ballrooms.

Malory Clifford, director of Blackfriars Investments, says it is too early to have selected designers yet.

But he adds that whoever is chosen is likely to work with historical consultant Anthony Blee, of architect Blee Ettwein Bridges, who carried out work for the development of The Lanesborough Hotel on London’s Hyde Park Corner.

Clifford describes the Liverpool Victoria building as “spectacular”, with a number of large open-plan spaces.