Description

LEEDS

SE2933SE KING STREET
714-1/77/220 (East side)
22/03/74 Hotel Metropole

GV II

Hotel. 1897-99. By Chorley, Connon and Chorley. Pink/red brick
and terracotta made by the firm of JC Edwards of Ruabon, stone
cupola, slate roof. Loosely designed in 'French Loire taste'
(Pevsner). Large asymmetrical building of 5 and 6 storeys and
attics.
Approx 9 bays wide; the 2 left bays project slightly with
large Dutch gable and 1st- and 2nd-storey oriels with ornate
moulded terracotta soffits, supported on tall ornamented
brackets. 2 similar oriels to projecting bays right.
Semicircular entrance centre has Ionic columns with moulded
shafts and moulded frieze in the entablature, supporting the
semicircular bay above with rusticated Tuscan pilasters; Dutch
gable above. Cornices at floor levels, moulded architraves to
ground and 1st floor rusticated, with keyblocks, some with
small pediments over. To left of centre the bay is surmounted
by a stone cupola with round-arch openings and iron grilles,
angle columns, wide cornice and leaded pointed dome with
circular openings to each side.
Left return: a 7-bay facade with central 3-window staircase
bay and ornate windows in 3 bays right; an ornate entrance far
left with banded rustication, keyed round arch with impost
band, entablature and cornice surmounted by a pedimented
plaque with Leeds coat of arms flanked by scrolls.
INTERIOR: terracotta and glazed tiles are used in the inner
porch which has 2 tiers of squat columns flanking glazed
doors, green and yellow glazing to overlight; moulded ceiling
with thistle motif. The reception hall has an arched ceiling
with moulded cornice and a glazed screen with double doors and
Art Deco-style inner arch and clock. The screen wall doors
lead into a large inner hall with giant moulded columns
supporting entablature and cornice and a panelled coved
ceiling.
To right of the central hall a small room with elaborate
panelled ceiling is now part of the restaurant; to left of the
reception hall a wide cantilevered staircase rises through all
6 floors of the building: the elaborate balustrade is bronze
with scrolls and pierced plaques, simplified on upper floors,
moulded wood handrail. Surviving fireplaces include a
cast-iron grate with eared architrave in a 4th-floor service
room and a cast-iron moulded surround, brackets and cornice

shelf with small basket grate in 6th-floor former staff
accommodation.
The cupola on the hotel roof was taken from the recently
demolished fourth White Cloth Hall which was built in King
Street in 1869 after the partial demolition of the earlier
Cloth Hall in Crown Street (qv), (S Burt, pers comm). The firm
of J Edwards, the Rhos Glazed Brick and Trefynant Fireclay
Works, Pen-y-bont, supplied the materials for this hotel and
several other buildings by Connon and Chorley.

Listing NGR: SE2974933464

External Links

• Historic England Listing
• Principal Met Hotel at Wikipedia
• Principal Met Hotel official website
• Wikidata Q7751159

External links are from the relevant listing authority and, where applicable, Wikidata. Wikidata IDs may be related buildings as well as this specific building. If you want to add or update a link, you will need to do so by editing the Wikidata entry.

Recommended Books

• 
  Essex: Buildings of England Series (Buildings of England) (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of England)
• 
  The green guide for historic buildings: how to improve the environmental performance of listed and historic buildings
• 
  Department for Communities Listed Historic Buildings of Northern Ireland: Information Guide for the 2nd Survey of Historic Buildings
• 
  Liverpool: Pevsner City Guide (Pevsner Architectural Guides: City Guides)
• 
  Old House Care and Repair
• 
  Planning (Listed Buildings and Conservation Areas) Act 1990