Issue 40 winter 23 web - Flipbook - Page 41
Above, the Haldane Suite
complement the sounds of the space, which draws people
to the room.
T. E. Lawrence, better known as Lawrence of Arabia.
Churchill in fact occupied a suite of offices in the building
when he was Secretary of State for War between 1919
and 1921.
“This was an exciting project to work on and has such
incredible small details in every room which really make
a difference to the visitor experience,” Michael added.
Lord Haldene laid the foundations for MI5 and MI6
during his time at the Old War Office, and John Profumo
was Secretary of State for War in the 1960s when
embroiled in what became known as the Profumo
Scandal, which rocked the Government of the day. The
building also proved to be the inspiration for Ian Fleming’s
famous 007, James Bond.
“It has been a pleasure to help not only conserve this
historic building but to repurpose and restore it to be used
by many many people for years to come.
“It is a fantastic example of bringing an old building back
to life through restoration and the layout of the structure
lends itself incredibly well to the use as a hotel.
“Restoration has been done to a high standard and care
has been taken to continually nod to its former use,
traditional building techniques and restoration finishes
help remind any visitor what this building was for and just
how much history there is in each room.”
The sale of the Ministry of Defence Old War Office to
the Hinduja Group in partnership with OHL Developments was completed in March 2016 and the plan was to
sympathetically restore, redevelop and re-imagine
the building as a luxury Raffles Hotel and high-quality
residential apartments.
The Old War Office’s story began when the building was
completed in 1906 and was considered to be one of the
great buildings of the Edwardian age. Designed and built
by British architect William Young, it stands on the site
of the Palace of Whitehall, home of the monarchy for
several centuries.
Mr Arney said: “We employed a similar level of attention
to detail in the private residences and heritage suites that
make up a collection of incomparable private homes
offering the full complement of Raffles services to the
lucky owners.
It contains around 1,100 rooms across seven floors, is
linked by some two and a half miles of corridors and was
home to many military and political leaders of the 20th
century, including Winston Churchill, Lord Haldane and
“Artisan Plastercraft has worked on many high-profile
projects over the last 25 years, building on a reputation of
delivering top quality plasterwork. Each one is unique and
it is always satisfying to produce something clients can be
immensely proud of.
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Conservation & Heritage Journal
39