The first proper mock-ups of the new-look BT Tower complex have been released by architects Orms — along with an estimated opening date.
Back in May we reported that the Fitzrovia landmark's makeover into an MCR hotel will feature access to the top of the tower (a privilege currently only afforded to a handful of occasional ballot winners) and a rooftop swimming pool.
Now, plans produced for a second public consultation give us a clearer picture of what to expect. Here are some key takeaways:
🔭 The public will have access to the revolving observation deck already in place at the top of the tower. There's no mention of bringing back the long-lost revolving restaurant, though we expect there will be special events where food and drink feature.
🏊 The rooftop swimming pool will be inspired by the one at MCR's TWA Hotel in New York; a heated, infinity-edge pool, open year-round. Hotel guests will get first dibs, but the public will be able to book subject to availability.
🚪 Visitors will access the experience through a new square accessible from Howland Street and Maple Street, where they'll go through security, then queue before taking the lift to level 34.
🏨 The 1930s Howland Building on Howland Street — originally a telephone exchange — will be repurposed into hotel rooms, with an extension on top for extra space.
🛏️ The Stick — aka the main body of the tower running from floors 7-23 — will also become hotel rooms (presumably prime ones). A second set of stairs will also be added. (A myth has circulated for years that the BT Tower has no staircase at all, which is nonsense, especially given it's hosted charity stair climbs.)
🏬 Retail, food and beverage outlets will occupy the surrounding buildings on Howland Street, Cleveland Street, Maple Street and Cleveland Mews. Orms says the shopfronts will take their cue from the 1960s aesthetics of the era in which the BT Tower was built, which sounds pretty cool.
⏱️ The proposal also now reveals a schedule. Once the second consultation is over in July, planning consent will be sought from Camden Council in September 2026. All being well, construction will begin in late 2029, with the complex opening in 2033.
You can read more about the second public consultation in this pdf.
