Bulgari Hotel

David Walker Architects received planning permission for the new Bulgari Hotel in Knightsbridge, London, including 76 guestrooms and residential apartments on the upper floors. The massing along Knightsbridge reinforces the existing scale and character of the mansion blocks that make up the conservation area, while the formal, symmetrical north elevation establishes the presence of the hotel.

A six-storey Portland stone base supports a lighter three-storey upper element, creating a clear distinction between the hotel and residential uses, and reinforcing the cornice line of York Mansions to the east. This delineation is reinforced by a setback at this level, which continues around the entire building.

Narrow, deeply recessed windows to the hotel guestrooms create a solid and vertical expression to the elevations, while the incorporation of stone piers forming the panels of windows with bronze infill elements at the upper stories allows for the simplification of the massing at the upper levels along Knightsbridge and Raphael Street.