Scottish Interior Design Company Bell & Swift to Lead a Major Refurbishment of Glasgow’s Hilton Hotel

Main Photo: The Hilton Glasgow built in 1992, as the tallest hotel in the city

Date: October 2020

Location: Glasgow, Scotland, UK

Name: Glasgow Hilton

No. of Keys: 319

Owner: TBA

Manager: Scottish commercial interior design company Bell & Swift is to lead a large-scale refurbishment of Glasgow’s Hilton hotel.

The hotel refurb is set to include all 319 existing guestrooms, an additional three guestrooms harvested from a redundant executive lounge on the 18th floor, and function and leisure spaces across the hotel.

Bell & Swift has been working on-site to create three model rooms for feasibility testing of the designs of the standard, deluxe and executive level suites. The function and pre-function areas are due for completion in December 2020 with the rest of the project to continue to be rolled out the following year.

Headed up by Dawn Campbell and Craig McKie, the commercial interior design agency has over 20 years of experience in hotel design. The team, based in Glasgow, specialises in interior design for global hotel chains, boutique spaces and renovation projects which they’ve carried out across the globe. Dawn and Craig have worked with the Hilton team on a number of projects throughout their career including projects for their Doubletree and Hampton by Hilton brands.

The design concept is centred around Glasgow heritage, taking inspiration from the ‘Glasgow Style’ made famous by world-renowned designer and architect Charles Rennie Mackintosh. The newly designed hotel rooms will feature bespoke furniture elements, designed in a linear style as a nod to the iconic designer.

The Ballroom and Pre-function Bar required a complete redesign and will continue the Glasgow Style but on a grander scale, to allow suitability for functions and gatherings and help re-establish the hotel as Scotland’s premier function destination. The Ballroom is the largest of the hotels function spaces at 944 sq. m.

Luke Townsend, senior manager – commercial/project management at Hilton Glasgow, said: “This will be the largest renovation the hotel has undergone since its opening in 1992. Our vision for the project is to enhance our offering with a modern take on elegance and luxury, restoring the hotel to its position as market lead and premier function destination in Glasgow.

“We’re delighted to be working with Bell & Swift on the renovation, their local knowledge combined with their experience of large-scale hotel refurbishment projects have made them the perfect partner for this project.”

Dawn Campbell, co-founder and managing director of Bell & Swift, added: “We used our experience in large scale refurbishments combined with our local knowledge of the city to take the client on a journey through Glasgow’s design heritage. Through our desire to bring this to life and reinvent the hotel we created a unique design, which paid homage to the culture and heritage of the city and elevate the aesthetics of the hotel and its position within the market place.”

The project will also include a full refurbishment and extension to the executive lounge and enhancements to restrooms across the hotel. In addition, the Leisure club will be updated to bring in line with the wider design. The hotel’s health club includes an indoor pool, sauna, and steam room, for guests to enjoy. Bell & Swift are working with the team at the Glasgow Hilton on an ongoing basis to define the scope of the redevelopment for this part of the hotel.

The hotel is notable for having accommodated many celebrities, including the former United States President Bill Clinton. The local actor and comedian Billy Connolly is also a regular guest, and was born a few streets away in the (now demolished) tenements of Anderston.

When American boxer Mike Tyson had a match at nearby Hampden Park, he booked 150 rooms for himself and his entourage. Hollywood actor Robert Duvall also stayed in one of the hotel’s luxury suites for several weeks during filming of the movie A Shot at Glory, which was shot in and around the city (this additional info courtesy of Wikipedia).

THPT Comment: One forgets that hotels like this, built nearly 30 years ago, need complete refurbishment every now and again. This Hilton was purpose built as a Hilton, whereas other Hiltons in the city came about as a result of their acquisition of Stakis, in the 1980s.

First Seen: Bell & Swift website

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