Five-star hotel created in police HQ where Rudolf Hess and Ripper investigation held

Hirsch Bedner Associates’ £75m transformation of the former headquarters of the Met Police where the Jack the Ripper crimes were investigated has been unveiled. 

The scheme, which was developed and built by Galliard, has transformed the building which has also been used as offices by the Ministry of Defence.

The project has created a five-star hotel at 1-5 Great Scotland Yard with 153 bedrooms and suites that will be operated by Hyatt. The hotel, which will open later this year, will also feature a main cocktail bar, a whiskey bar, restaurant and library.

The basement cells where Rudolf Hess was interrogated in 1941 have been replaced by a gymnasium with changing rooms, meeting/conference rooms, a 120 seater conference space/ballroom and a series of VIP function rooms.

Home Secretary Robert Peel picked Great Scotland Yard as the HQ of the newly founded Metropolitan Police force in 1829. While its main entrance was at 4 Whitehall Place, a public office was created at the back, occupying the Georgian townhouses in Great Scotland Yard - hence the building’s name.

It was here that the famous Plaistow Marshes (1864) and Jack the Ripper (1888) crimes were investigated.

In June 1891 the police headquarters moved to a new location, which was named New Scotland Yard.

In 2013 Galliard Group acquired a 125-year Crown Estate lease on the building which was exchanged for a forward sale of the hotel when completed to Abu Dhabi based LuLu Group International in 2016 for £110m.

A spokesman said Hirsch Bedner Associates’ UAE office replaced Martin Brudnizki on the interior design when the project changed hands.