Inside the Andaz Liverpool Street hotel lays an oppulent room of marble and gilt. This stunning space is a masonic temple, which remained forgotten and walled off for decades before its rediscovery during a 1990's refurbishment.
The Andaz itself is an impressive mixture of Victorian craftsmanship and modern interiors. The hotel, originally the Great Eastern, was built by Charles Barry Jnr, son of the architect of the Houses of Parliament. Barry also crafted the temple, at a cost of some £50,000 (around £4 million in today's reckoning). The room reportedly contains 12 types of marble, as well as a golden pipe organ and mahogany furniture.
Today the room is used as an events venue. If you don't move in circles swanky enough to be invited along to such things, you can normally get a peek inside the temple on Open House weekends every September. But click through the gallery above for a taster.
The Andaz hotel can be found at 40 Liverpool Street.
