UK practice Heatherwick Studio is set to turn the 177-metre-high BT Tower in central London into a hotel, following its sale to American hotelier MCR Hotels.
MCR Hotels announced today that it had purchased the Grade II-listed tower from the BT Group telecommunications company with Heatherwick Studio and is set to turn the structure into a hotel.
"This is an extraordinary building and an amazing opportunity to bring it back to life," said Heatherwick Studio founder Thomas Heatherwick.
"We're excited at the prospect of working with Fitzrovia's residents and with many thousands of Londoners, to repurpose this important piece of the city's living heritage."
Heatherwick Studio will turn the BT Tower into a hotel. Photo by Doyle of London Completed in 1964, the communications tower ? originally known as the Post Office Tower ? in Fitzrovia was the tallest building in London until the NatWest Tower was built in 1980.
Designed by Eric Bedford and G R Yeats, the distinctive structure was designed to support microwave aerials, which were removed in 2011. It was topped by a six-storey structure of suites including a revolving restaurant on the 34th floor, which closed in the early 1980s.

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The BT Group sold the building as it no longer forms part of its operations plan. According to BT Group, it will take "a number of years to vacat...