Royal Horseguards Hotel

The brief was to create a new entrance and entrance vestibule integrated from a recently acquired adjoining property into the existing hotel, in an area of outstanding Portland Stone use.
The stone originally used in the hotel was matched by Independent Basebed, and the design was a traditional, classic floor with Basebed tiles laid square with corners trimmed to receive Welsh blue-black slate diamonds.
Completed in 1988, the insulation used beneath the tiles was innovative at that time; a blue polystyrene membrane was laid on to the concrete floor before the sand and cement screed, now of course usual practice.
The finish attracted many complimentary comments in that although the client originally wanted the stone sealed, he accepted the mason’s advice and left it to form its own patina. Within a few weeks, the stone had dried to a beautiful creamy-grey hue.
The diamonds, however, were oiled individually with boiled linseed oil to give a greater contrast to the stone and the finished effect was outstanding.
There is a direct path from the street to Reception, which even now shows no sign of wear.