Nobel House, which is part of the original Imperial Chemical House, sits on the north side of the Lambeth Bridge crossing on Millbank and is located in the City of Westminster and the Smith Square Conservation Area.
The site was constructed between 1927 and 1929 and was home to the Imperial Chemical House. The site has been most recently occupied by the Department for Environment Food and Rural Affairs, until they vacated the site in May 2024.
Whilst the existing site has served its previously tenants well, it now no longer meets the market requirements and specifications for modern tenants, especially around energy performance, flexibility and a layout.
The existing building has faced several alterations and adaptations over the course of its life. Despite these changes, several internal features of the original building retain their historical value on the sixth and eighth floors including the former library, former executive offices facing Millbank, and the former Refectory.
As part of the proposals, in addition to the existing external facades and fabric, the areas of high heritage significance would be retained and carefully adapted including many of rooms along the eastern edge of the building facing Millbank with a particular focus on the suite of former executive offices, meeting rooms, and canteen on the sixth and eighth floor.
We aim to restore Nobel House, and transform it into a new hotel that is designed to promote sleep. Our proposals embrace the buildings heritage and will allow the public to access the heritage asset for the first time in its history.
Yes, there is a clear need for new visitor accommodation within London, with the majority of demand needed in high-footfall tourist hotspots such as Westminster. It is projected that London will require an additional 58,140 serviced accommodation rooms by 2041, of the overall figure, Westminster is expected to have an additional 5,559 rooms to meet the demand. This figure also accounts for the closure of existing accommodation stock.
Our plans will provide an accommodation option that meets the demands of a diverse range of visitors to the city, including but not limited to professionals who work in Westminster, and families of tourists who want to experience the plethora of unique cultural and heritage destinations on the building’s doorstep.
We are aiming for the highest possible BREEAM standard for a building of this type.
The proposals will consider principles of sustainable design and measures to improve environmental performance and mitigate and adapt to climate change. The proposals will enable the extended lifetime of the building and incorporate principles of sustainable design, including use of high-quality durable materials and detail; providing flexible, high quality floorspace; optimising resource and water efficiency; enabling connection to future services; and minimising the need for plant and machinery.
Zedwell’s material palette includes a variety of sustainable components, saving on resource and helping ensure the hotel plays its role in environmental protection. Most of our rooms do not have windows by design, ensuring energy efficiency: heat generated within the hotel is held within our walls, longer.
As well as using refillable guest room toiletries & self-service water stations to help reduce plastic consumption, we also operate a sustainable supply chain through partnering with hotel service suppliers that think like us and share our vision.
We will develop a construction traffic management plan to schedule deliveries and heavy vehicle movements during off-peak hours, minimising the impact on local roads and residents.
We anticipate most of the servicing will take place as per the existing situation, which is within the basement on site, accessed off Dean Bradley Street.
The main entrance to the hotel will be located on Millbank.
The site will be managed in accordance with the Considerate Construction Scheme and Westminster City Council’s own considerate construction requirements. Contractors will be required to apply the best practical methods to reduce disruption related to the works. The vast majority of the construction would take placed behind the existing building façade, and any external works will be minimal, hugely reducing the noise usually emitted by building sites.
Westminster City Council’s standard working hours are 8am to 6pm Monday to Friday and 8am to 2pm on Saturdays. There will be no work on Sundays or Bank Holidays. Any deviation from this would need to be agreed in advance by Westminster City Council.
Should we receive planning permission later this year, we expect to start construction in January 2026.
We will be submitting a planning application later this year, should we receive planning permission, we would start work on site at the beginning of 2026.
Please contact us at NobelHouse@jbp.co.uk if you wish to be kept up to date.