Qatari Diar’s redevelopment of the American Embassy at 30 Grosvenor Square, Mayfair, into a luxury hotel is all set to go with the Construction Intelligence Center citing a start date in the second quarter of 2018. 
The development has been designed to make the area more accessible and cohesive. Lucy Musgrave of Publica, the public realm consultant on the project, noted, “This proposal presents a unique opportunity to create a vibrant and dramatically transformed public realm in this part of Mayfair. It will also greatly improve the setting of the listed embassy building, and democratise and upgrade all four surrounding streets in a high-quality and sympathetic way,” she said.
Completed in 1960, the Chancery Building was Britain’s first purpose-built embassy. Its staff are making the move to the new Kieran Timberlake-designed US embassy located in Nine Elms, South London. This stunning new premises located on the southern bank of the Thames just east of the iconic Battersea Power station combines innovative design with enhanced security and greater capacity. 
David Chipperfield Architects, which will convert the Grosvenor Square US embassy building into a 137-room hotel with spa, ballroom and retail space, has a keen appreciation of the striking features of the original design. 
The London-based firm will retain the iconic stone facades of the building, which was designed by Finnish-American architect Eero Saarinen in the 1950s and was granted a Grade-II listing by English Heritage in 2009. The gilded aluminium bald eagle with its 35-foot wing spread that crowns the building will also remain in place.
David Chipperfield Architects has won more than fifty national and international design competitions, and received many international awards and citations for design excellence, including RIBA, RFAC, BDA, and AIA awards, as well as the RIBA Stirling Prize in 2007, and the European Union Prize for Contemporary Architecture – Mies van der Rohe Award in 2011, as well as the 2011 Deutscher Architekturpreis.
The practice works from offices in London, Berlin, Milan and Shanghai on cultural, commercial and residential projects including architecture, master-planning, interiors, and product and furniture design in both public and private sectors. Their diverse international portfolio includes significant museums and galleries, libraries, hotels, apartment and office buildings as well as private homes.
Hotel and resort design specialists ReardonSmith will work in collaboration with lead architect, David Chipperfield Architects, and eventually take on the role of executive architect to oversee the successful implementation of the project on-site.
Qatari Diar has awarded the lucrative operator contract for the Grosvenor Square building to Hong Kong firm Rosewood Hotels & Resorts. Rosewood London was voted the top hotel in London by the Condé Nast Traveller 2017 Readers’ Choice Awards.
The landscape architects for the project are BDP, a multi-discipline practice of designers with a strong design ethos that combines creativity, innovation and a proven track record of delivering high quality public realm schemes. 
Sheikh Jassim al-Thani, chief development officer, Qatari Diar Europe & Americas said of the development, “This is a major opportunity for London, and a hotel of this exceptional calibre perfectly aligns with our vision and ambition to renew the heart of Mayfair and cement the neighbourhood’s unique character as the leading hospitality, arts and luxury retail quarter in London for residents and visitors to enjoy.”
The redevelopment of the American Embassy building forms part of Qatari Diar’s substantial investments in the capital. Current projects include a landmark residential development at Chelsea Barracks; Southbank Place, a mixed-use joint venture between Qatari Diar and Canary Wharf Group situated in a prime central London location south of the River Thames; Grosvenor Waterside, to the north of the River Thames; and East Village in Stratford, East London, a joint venture with Delancey offering private residential apartments for rent. As many as 1,439 homes are let and managed by Get Living, the UK’s leading owner operator of private rental homes. A further 2,000 new homes are planned, including 482 currently under construction.