The Standard Hotel

The redevelopment of the Camden Town Hall Annexe transformed a 1970s concrete-frame office building into The Standard, London, a 270-bed luxury boutique hotel. Located opposite St. Pancras International and King’s Cross stations, the 184,000 sq ft scheme required expert planning and execution on a highly constrained central London site.

Scope of Works

The project involved partial demolition of rooftop structures and plant rooms, significant structural reconfiguration including new lift cores and reinforcement of the existing concrete frame, and the installation of a new three-storey steel frame with reinforced-concrete decking. The building was extended to eight storeys and fitted with a new architectural curtain walling and cladding system on the upper floors. A scenic external glass lift was installed to connect street level to the tenth-floor restaurant.

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Technical Skills and Capabilities

A major challenge was the limited power capacity of the existing UKPN substation, which served multiple networks. To avoid disruption, McLaren installed a new substation within the building footprint while retaining the original for local supply. This required six weeks of excavation and HV cabling works, temporary suspension of five parking bays, and a one-day closure of Argyle Street. The alternative, upgrading the substation on Euston Road would have caused significant disruption and power outages.

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Environmental Considerations

McLaren led the design development of the cladding system for levels 9 and 10, originally specified as large, joint-free sheets. By introducing joints, the team reduced material waste and allowed the thickness to be decreased from 5mm to 3mm, significantly lowering the environmental impact and improving material efficiency.