The Lanesborough Hotel, London

A landmark hospitality project in one of London’s most prestigious settings

The Garden Room at The Lanesborough is a luxury terrace and cigar lounge, positioned within an elite hospitality setting directly at Hyde Park Corner. Oetker presents the hotel as a destination for elegant Regency-style accommodation, butler service in every room and suite, distinguished dining, and one of London’s standout cigar lounge experiences.

For us, that made this project especially significant.

This was not a private residential glass room hidden away in a garden. It was not a simple pergola upgrade. And it was not an easy-access commercial site with generous storage, unrestricted vehicle movement, and flexible working hours.

It was a prestige London hotel project at one of the city’s most visible and logistically difficult junctions, inside an operating guest environment, with a sophisticated design brief and extremely demanding delivery conditions.

That is precisely why it matters as a case study.

Project Snapshot

Client: The Lanesborough Hotel
Location: Hyde Park Corner, London, UK
Project Type: Luxury Commercial Glass Garden Room Installation
Structure Type: Bespoke Cubo Glass Room with integrated awnings
Glazing System: Frameless sliding glass (GSW17 system)
Installation Duration: 20-day phased installation
Team Size: 8 operatives on-site
Environment: Live 5-star hotel / central London / restricted access
Key Challenge: Complex logistics, structural integration, zero-disruption requirement

The brief

The objective was to create a premium enclosed garden room environment that would allow The Garden Room to operate as a more protected, higher-performing, all-weather hospitality space while still preserving the openness, elegance, and atmosphere expected from a luxury hotel terrace.

The client team needed a solution that could do several things at once:

Create a refined and fully integrated glass enclosure within the courtyard setting.

Maintain the visual quality and premium feel appropriate to The Lanesborough brand.

Provide improved shelter, comfort, and operational flexibility.

Work within a very tight and carefully managed site footprint.

Integrate with a separate steel deck platform, landscaping, electrical systems, heating, balustrading, and specialist awning systems.

Be developed through detailed design, engineering, planning, and pre-construction coordination before site installation.

The scale of the appointed package reflects how substantial the project really was. The accepted quotation covered a Cubo glass roof structure, a GSW17 sliding glass wall system, two additional side canopies, under-glass shading systems, external retractable awnings, balustrading and associated installation works, and a formal 20-day installation allowance. We set out a 4-week design and drawing phase, 8 to 10 weeks for production, 2 to 3 weeks for shipping, and a 20-day installation programme. That is not a lightweight order; it is a substantial commercial package built around a serious architectural system.

The main garden room structure was configured at 6800mm wide x 9000mm projection, split into two back-to-back roof structures at 2700mm under eaves, finished in RAL 9016 smooth / semi-gloss, and glazed with a high-spec build-up incorporating toughened, anti-sun, argon-filled and laminated roof glass. The associated GSW17 perimeter glazing package covered over 31 linear metres using 10mm clear toughened safety glass. The package also included two under-glass awning systems, two external retractable awnings, and a Winrail aluminium and glass balustrade system with stair handrails and a glazed access gate.

Why this project was unusually complex

A lot of case studies in this sector talk about “challenging projects”, but very few are genuinely difficult in the way this one was.

This job combined several layers of complexity at once.

1. A live ultra-luxury hotel environment

The first challenge was the setting itself.

The Lanesborough is not a shut-down construction zone. It is an operating five-star hotel with extremely high presentation standards, established guest routes, active hospitality operations, and very little tolerance for disruption. Oetker highlights the hotel’s Hyde Park location, its Regency grandeur, its butler service, and its importance as a destination venue.

Working in that context means the construction methodology has to be as polished as the finished product.

Noise had to be tightly controlled. Access had to be managed. Working areas had to remain clean and safe. Fire escape routes could not be obstructed. Materials movements had to be deliberate and supervised. There was no possibility of turning the courtyard into a typical messy urban building site and “sorting it out as we go”.

2. A central London logistics problem

This project sat at Hyde Park Corner, one of the busiest and most operationally sensitive locations in London. Oetker’s own site makes a point of the hotel’s location on Hyde Park Corner and at the edge of Hyde Park.

That prestigious address comes with severe practical limitations.

Vehicle access is constrained. Delivery windows matter. The tolerance for blockage, overspill, and badly managed unloading is minimal. Space around the rear courtyard is exceptionally tight. There was no comfortable laydown yard. No generous contractor compound. No room for wasteful handling.

This is one of the reasons the project became such a strong demonstration of capability: we did not simply install a premium structure; we installed it in a location where almost every physical movement had to be thought through in advance.

3. A heavily constrained working footprint

The installation sat inside a tightly hoarded site area with very limited storage and circulation space. All materials had to be delivered into the designated loading bay and then transferred to the workface under banksman supervision while guest circulation routes and fire escape access were maintained at all times. The installation area was adjacent to the hotel’s designated fire escape route, which had to remain fully open and unobstructed for the entire duration of Azure’s works.

That alone changes the character of the whole build.

You cannot stack materials wherever convenient. You cannot allow packaging and waste to accumulate. You cannot drift into public circulation zones. You cannot let crane activity or glass handling interfere with emergency egress. The build sequence has to be planned so that the site remains functional while the structure rises around it.

4. A multi-disciplinary interface

This project was not just about supplying a frame and glazing it.

It involved close coordination between:

• The manufacturers
• Our installers
• the main contractor team
• steel deck specialists
• consulting engineers
• electrical contractors
• hotel stakeholders
• fit-out and furnishing teams

The design had to interface with a separate steel deck substructure, planter zones, balustrade positions, heating layouts, electrical routes, awnings, access points, and operational requirements for a smoking lounge.

That makes it a very different proposition from an off-the-shelf garden room.

The appointed specification

One of the strengths of this project is that the specification itself carries weight. It tells the story of a premium, engineered, large-format installation.

Main structure

The core system was our Cubo freestanding glass roof structure, configured as two back-to-back roofs to form the main enclosed room. This as an ultra-sleek premium glass roof system, architecturally led in appearance, with clean lines and a freestanding build-up for maximum design flexibility.

The project specification included:

• approximately 6800mm width x 9000mm projection
• split into two separate 6.8m x 4.5m roof structures
• approx. 2700mm under eaves
• 8 posts
• aluminium structure with glass roof
• RAL 9016 smooth / semi-gloss finish

Roof glazing

The quoted roof glazing specification comprised:

• 4mm toughened blue tint anti-sun glass
• 20mm argon-filled warm edge spacer bar
• 6.4mm laminated inner pane

This is exactly the kind of build-up you would expect on a premium hospitality garden room project: not just weather cover, but a carefully considered glass specification aimed at durability, performance and comfort.

Sliding perimeter glazing

The perimeter of the roof is enclosed with our GSW17 full sliding glass system, offering additional protection against wind, rain, snow, dirt and noise without compromising visibility, while retaining the ability to be opened fully when conditions permit.

The installed package covers:

• 31 linear metres
• 10mm clear toughened safety glass
• aluminium framing finished to match the roof structure

This sliding system is a key part of the project’s hospitality functionality. It allows the Garden Room to operate as an enclosed space when required while preserving flexibility and openness.

Side canopies

The package also included two additional freestanding Cubo side canopies, one at approximately 5.5m x 1.5m and the other at approximately 6.5m x 1.5m, again in RAL 9016 and using the same premium roof glass build-up. These side structures play an important role in completing the terrace composition and extending shelter beyond the core room.

Solar control and shading

The project included substantial shading provision:

• 2 x double-unit under-glass awning systems to shade the main Cubo roof
• 2 x exterior retractable awnings, one a large pergola-style double-unit system and the other a cantilevered awning

The external awning package included a principal awning sized at approximately 6.3m wide x 5.5m projection, plus a second awning at approximately 1.7m wide x 4m projection.

These are not decorative extras. On a premium hospitality project, shading and solar control are fundamental to comfort, usability, and the guest experience across the whole day.

Balustrading

The package further included Winrail aluminium and glass balustrading:

• approx. 10 linear metres
• plus 4 stair handrails
• clear safety glass
• configuration and colour coordinated to the wider scheme

In practical terms, this meant the whole external environment has been designed as a complete architectural composition rather than a stand-alone room dropped onto a deck.

Structural and engineering depth

This was fundamentally an engineering-led project, underpinned by a comprehensive structural design package.

We provided a detailed drawing and statics pack incorporating full design load calculations, including snow load (45 kg/m²), wind load (0.37 kN/m²), and imposed glass load (50.0 kg/m²).

The drawing set also defined key construction and coordination elements, including rafter orientations, LED lighting positions, and door opening configurations. Finished floor levels were carefully coordinated to allow for flush door tracks throughout.

In addition, the package detailed the plate-based foot bracket arrangement and an integrated roof drainage strategy, ensuring both structural integrity and long-term performance.

This matters because the build was not simply “assembled”; it was coordinated against a deck platform and support structure that had to be engineered around actual reactions, loading assumptions, glazing behaviour, and base fixing conditions.

The clients Engineers queried wind transfer through the glazing system, horizontal reactions at the structure bases, and the relationship between the glass wall tracks, the roof frame, and the steel deck below. There was also detailed design discussion around footplate positions, leg clearances to planters, hatch access, set-out datums, and whether specific structural legs needed relocating or adjusting in response to fire safety and utility access constraints.

The steel deck interface

Another major layer of complexity came from the fact that the glass room was not landing onto a simple concrete slab. It had to be built onto a separate steel deck arrangement coordinated by others.

In practical terms, that meant:

• the glass structure position had to be set out accurately onto a pre-built deck
• baseplates had to coordinate with underlying structural timbers or support points
• leg positions had to avoid clashes with drains, utilities, planters, and access hatches
• the whole assembly had to work as one system despite being delivered by different specialist parties

A lot of premium-looking installations are relatively simple under the skin. This one was not.

Installation methodology: how the build was actually delivered

Our RAMS and method statement that we created tell the real story of how difficult this project was to execute properly.

• working hours of 07:00–17:00
• with noisy works restricted to 11:00–15:30 only
• all within the rear of the hotel off Grosvenor Crescent
• with protection of guest circulation routes and fire escape access throughout

The methodology included:

• installation of the aluminium Cubo structures onto the pre-levelled steel deck
• drilling and bolting through the deck into structural timbers to approved fixing details
• erection of posts, primary beams, rafters, integrated gutters and downpipes
• installation of the GSW17 full-height sliding glass wall system
• installation of roof glazing
• installation of internal LED lighting and controls
• installation of the under-glass awning systems
• installation of the external retractable awnings
• installation of two external Cubo side canopies
• installation of PPC aluminium balustrades with laminated glass infill and a glazed access gate
• final testing, commissioning and handover

Lifting and access strategy

Our RAMS identified the need for:

• HIAB / lifting vehicle for controlled unloading
• mechanical vacuum glass lifting equipment
• mobile scaffold towers
• podium steps
• certified ladders for short-duration low-risk tasks only
• glass A-frames, suckers, panel carriers and edge protection systems

In addition, there was a no hot works rule on the project:

• no grinders
• no abrasive wheels
• no spark-generating tools
• all cutting carried out using cold-cut systems with dust control

Fire escape and live-site protection

The working area was directly adjacent to the hotel’s fire escape route:

• no materials, tools, glass, trolleys, lifting equipment, waste or packaging could be placed within that corridor
• all movements were to be directed away from the escape route
• exclusion zones during glass installation had to remain inside the hoarding only
• emergency egress had to be maintained at full width at all times, including during delivery, unloading and lifting operations

The challenge was not merely building a beautiful structure. It was building it while protecting life-safety routes inside one of London’s most premium operating hotel environments.

Logistics: one of the hardest parts of the job

Project lead Andrew Loader repeatedly described this as one of the most logistically demanding projects Azure Outdoor Living had been involved with to date.

The working area was so tight that site logistics were being modelled, marked out, and debated in CAD before installation even started. Vehicle types, trailer dimensions, HIAB footprint, tool storage, waste handling, unloading routes, and mark-out datums all had to be planned with care. There were active site discussions around:

• where the unload should happen
• whether a trailer would physically fit
• whether a “mobile skip” strategy would work
• how to maintain emergency access
• how to cross-check the UKPN hatch position below the cobbles
• where the deck nodes and structural feet needed to land
• how to protect guest and fire routes while moving large-format materials into the site

Our RAMS Outlined the intended waste and logistics strategy, including the use of a large enclosed trailer for waste collection and temporary storage, weekly removal, and strict housekeeping to prevent debris, dust, or visual clutter migrating into guest-facing areas.

This was a difficult build in an unforgiving location, and it required real site intelligence to make it work.

Before, during and after: what changed

The before images show an elegant but exposed courtyard setting with obvious hospitality potential and unmistakable prestige, but without the full year-round enclosure and spatial performance the final scheme required.

The during images tell a different story:

• steel deck in place
• main framework rising within the courtyard
• glazing being installed
• roof glass going in
• side canopies and perimeter systems being built out
• site teams working in an extremely tight operational envelope

The after photography is where the significance of the project really lands.

The completed Garden Room does not look like a temporary or improvised enclosure. It looks resolved. Integrated. Calm. Intentional. The white aluminium structure sits cleanly against the pale classical hotel facade. The glazing preserves openness and transparency. The awnings, canopies, balustrades, planters, lighting, and furniture all work together as a complete hospitality environment.

Crucially, the space reads as part of The Lanesborough, not an add-on to it.

That is one of the hardest things to achieve on a project like this.

Why this project matters commercially

For us, The Lanesborough is not just another good-looking case study. It is a serious credibility piece.

It proves we can operate at the level required for:

• luxury hospitality
• central London logistics
• technically coordinated structural installations
• design-led commercial environments
• projects where multiple specialist systems must be brought together without compromise

It also proves something else that matters just as much:

We can deliver in places where reputation is part of the brief.

When you work inside a globally recognised Oetker hotel at Hyde Park Corner, everything is heightened:

• the client expectations
• the scrutiny
• the operational constraints
• the visibility of mistakes
• the importance of calm, professional delivery

The fact this project was successfully developed, coordinated and installed in that environment says a lot about the standard of work behind it.

Andrew Loader’s project view

Azures Project Manager Andrew Loader’s role was central in guiding the commercial, technical and supplier side of the job. His view throughout was consistent:

“This was a premium system in a premium environment, but the real challenge was not just the product itself. It was the combination of precision engineering, limited access, live-site constraints, and the need to deliver without disruption.

That is exactly what makes this project such a strong benchmark.

Not just because the final photographs are beautiful, but because the process beneath them was serious.”

The Lanesborough Garden Room is the kind of project that only looks effortless at the end because of the amount of planning, engineering, coordination and discipline that went into it beforehand.

It was:

• a major glass and aluminium structure package
• inside one of London’s most prestigious hotels
• at one of the capital’s most visible and difficult locations
• delivered in a live luxury environment
• under tight programme, safety and logistics constraints
• with a specification and finish level that had to match the hotel around it

And it was delivered successfully.

That is exactly why it matters.