Leslie Clark provided Project Management, Quantity Surveying and Principal Designer (CDM) services for the full refurbishment of the former Ambassadors Hotel in central London, now renamed The Memoir Club.

The project involved a comprehensive refurbishment of the hotel, including 100 bedrooms across six floors, two large function rooms, the reception and pre-function areas, and the main restaurant. A majority of the internal works consisted of new flooring, redecoration, new bedroom furniture, LED Lighting installation, and complete new audio and visual systems within meeting rooms and conferencing facilities.  Works also included new lighting, external decoration and updated signage to the front façade.

Scope and delivery

Leslie Clark was involved from the early feasibility and design stages through to project completion, working alongside a number of specialist consultants on behalf of the client. A full, comprehensive tender process was carried out with cost monitoring for the whole project, inclusive of all direct appointments.

The construction works were carried out over a one-year period on site, in phases, and were implemented without closing the hotel, with operations continuing throughout the refurbishment. This involved having a temporary solution for guests to enter and exit the hotel whilst the reception works were carried out.

During the course of the project, Leslie Clark coordinated the consultant and contractor team and managed the programme through a number of challenges associated with delivering extensive refurbishment works within a live hotel environment.

Design context

The refurbishment was informed by the history of the hotel and its Bloomsbury setting, with the concept drawing inspiration from the Memoir Club established in 1920.