The story behind the Beaumont Hotel’s steel man

A posh Mayfair hotel is locally famous for the metal man sculpture on its classical style frontage, but there’s a lot more to the hotel and the sculpture than might seem at first glance.

The building is a shade under 100 years old, having been constructed in 1925-26 and opened in 1926, but not as a hotel for humans, but for cars. It’s a car park.

Yes, really – that grand frontage was the front of a car park, with a petrol station on the ground floor where the hotel’s main entrance is today.

The hotel site was originally a block of houses that were slowly converted into larger industrial units. The corner block was cleared in the 1910s to make space, although at the time, there was still a debate about whether they would build a hotel or a garage on the site.

For a while, the empty plot was occupied by Selfridges as a building site.

Eventually, in 1925, plans were approved for an early reinforced concrete and steel structure to be used as a garage, which opened in 1926 as Macys. By 1932, the garage had been taken over by Dagenham Motors, which remained in place until the 1980s, and the last occupant was Avis, who finally left in 2011.

It was then converted into The Beaumont Hotel, rebuilding the rear while retaining the classical frontage.

As part of the conversion, the council required some form of public art commission, which in the area varies from a sculpture to a decorative facade. Here, the developers commissioned Antony Gormley to create the steel man on the southern wing.

But it’s not just a sculpture, as it’s hollow inside, and is in fact a very special hotel suite that people can spend the night in.

Anyone inside the hotel wandering the corridors would have no idea that one of the doors conceals an entrance to The Room. Even if the door was open and they peered inside, it would initially look just like any other hotel suite. That was deliberate, as the entrance was supposed to look like the rest of the building.

The big reveal occurs only when you ascend some white marble steps and through a dark curtain.

The entire body of the sculpture is lined internally with thick slabs of wood, all joined without nails, creating a very dark but also tall room that’s more monastic than oppressive.

The soundproofing is also very good. Once the shutters are closed, the room is exceptionally dark and quiet. Some would love it, but others might find the dark silence unsettling.

As the designer, Antony Gormley was the second person to spend the night in The Room. The first, was the wood carpenter who made it.

Now, anyone can spend a night in The Room, for a price of course.