Project Name: Midlands Hotel Manchester

Location: Manchester

Date Completed: February 2021

Hotel Group/ Developer: Fattal Group

Construction Company: Edgewater

Garuda design embarked on a complete £14 million refurbishment of existing Grand Hotel, including all bedrooms, Ensuites, corridors, Reception area, Bar, Restaurant, Tea rooms, Fine Dining Restaurant and Mount St. Bar and Restaurant. The Brief was to try and capture the grandeur of the original EdwardIan Railway Hotel, but add some Luxury and flamboyance to this Grand Dame. This was achieve through keep original main features but adding clever design elements that bring the project to life.

The key aspect and highlight of the hotel is the Expansive open plan Reception bar and seating area with its glazed rooflight, which was the original winter-garden. This has been transformed and helps to create the feel of grandeur that the clients wanted to achieve. The designers tried to capture the original concept of the Palm winter-garden, to create the feel of this as it had been lost through the years. This was achieve with the use of clever design concepts and the introduction of fabrics and furnishings.

The designer feels that the Interior spaces now reflect the language of the Architecture and the historical importance of the building. The grandness of the Exterior of the Hotel is now matched by the Interior. This was previously lost over time but has been restored through the refurbishment.

Garuda design used a talented mural artist Julien Gaultier to paint a trompe L’oeil sky in the Rotunda, and had specialist painters to stone block and paint faux marble on the large columns. It was a pleasure to breathe new life into this Grand Dame of a hotel, an important landmark that has been given a new lease of life for another 100 years or so!