First images of £1billion overhaul of Whiteleys shopping centre as it’s turned into hotel, shops and flats
New images reveal how the run-down former Whiteleys shopping centre in Bayswater will be reborn as a new £1 billion residential, retail, dining and hotel complex.
The 109-year-old Grade II listed mall on Queensway has been closed for two years after a period of slow decline following the opening of the nearby Westfield London mall in 2008.
The building - famed for its collonaded facade and rooftop cupulas - has stood on the site since 1911 when Whiteleys was one of London’s first luxury department store.
Under new plans designed by architects Foster + Partners it will be transformed into 139 apartments and townhouses, 20 new shops and restaurants, a cinema, a large-scale gym, and a Six Senses hotel and spa - the first in Britain - with 110 rooms, as well as its social wellness club by 2023.
The famous clock and glass dome will be restored and a new public courtyard created in the centre of the building. The grand staircase will be incorporated into the hotel.
Residents in the one to five bedroom homes will have access to a gym, swimming pool, spa, music room, childcare facilities and co-working space.
The project is a joint venture between property investment firm MARK and Hong Kong developer C C Land with luxury homes specialist Finchatton acting as development manager.
Whiteleys, once one of the great department stores of London, was originally founded by Yorkshireman William Whiteley in 1863 and had as its slogan “everything from a pin to an elephant.”
Whiteley was murdered in 1907 but his sons opened the new shop on Queensway in 1911 before the business was bought by arch-rival Gordon Selfridge. It was turned into a shopping mall in 1989 but was virtually an empty shell by the time it closed for good.