Whitbread starts Vauxhall office-to-hotel conversion

Whitbread has appointed Legendre UK to convert a largely vacant office building opposite Vauxhall Station into a 180-bedroom Premier Inn.

The project will bring the 10-storey, 80,000 sq ft Phoenix House back into long-term use, retaining its existing structure while replacing the former office accommodation with hotel bedrooms and supporting facilities.  Construction is due to begin later this year, with completion scheduled for the end of 2027.

Phoenix House forms part of the St George Wharf mixed-use development close to the River Thames. Built in the early 2000s, it was acquired by Lambeth Council in 2004 and used as council offices until 2019, after which it remained largely vacant. Whitbread agreed terms on the building in March 2025 and has since secured planning consent and begun strip-out works.

Under the property agreement, Whitbread will lead the conversion and lease the completed hotel from Lambeth Council for 30 years, while the council retains the longer-term head lease.

The existing office floorplates will be converted into Premier Inn bedrooms, including the company's Premier Plus format. Upgrades to the building's mezzanine will create a restaurant and reception area.

Sam Murphy, project and programme manager for Whitbread, said: “Phoenix House is a fantastic opportunity to bring Premier Inn to the heart of Vauxhall for the first time.

“Working alongside Lambeth Council, we have moved quickly from securing the site and achieving planning consent to starting the transformation of the vacant office building into a modern, high-quality Premier Inn.”

Whitbread has a longstanding track record of converting offices into hotels in London, including its transformation of part of County Hall in the late 1990s.  The company is targeting BREEAM Excellent for Phoenix House and is retaining the existing structure as part of the conversion.

Thomas Vandecasteele, managing director of Legendre UK, said: “This is an opportunity to bring a largely vacant building back into use, taking a sustainable approach by retaining and adapting as much of the existing structure as possible.

“The project also draws on our experience delivering complex refurbishment and conversion projects in London.”

Phoenix House will be Legendre UK's first project for Whitbread, although the contractor is involved in other office-to-hotel schemes across the capital.

Earlier this year, Legendre UK and its joint venture partners secured planning consent to convert Grove House in Hammersmith into a 171-room hotel. It is also developing the former Diageo headquarters in Park Royal into a 429-room hotel scheme.

The Vauxhall development forms part of Whitbread's wider expansion plans for London. The group currently operates more than 100 hotels within the M25 through Premier Inn and hub by Premier Inn and has identified 40 locations across the capital where it wants to expand.

For Phoenix House, the conversion provides a new use for office accommodation that has been largely empty for seven years, while allowing the majority of the existing building structure to remain in place.