CASE STUDY
reassessment of how the asset generates long-term value, how its public spaces work across the day, and how the building’ s heritage could be used as a differentiator in an increasingly experience-led market.
Importantly, this repositioning was also delivered in a way that protected ongoing trading, with the hotel remaining operational throughout the phased refurbishment programme, ensuring revenue continuity for the owner during delivery as well as minimising disruption to hotel guests.
“ What defines a project like this is not the design alone, but the operational thinking behind it,” explains MacNaughton.
“ Every choice has to be tested against how it will work in practice— how it affects flow, flexibility and ultimately commercial performance. That’ s where real value is created in a refurbishment of this scale.”
As a Grade II listed building, The Met Hotel presented both opportunity and constraint. Rather than limiting the transformation, its historic status became a framework for decision-making, ensuring restoration and modernisation progressed in parallel. Working closely with Historic England, RBH’ s Capital Projects team undertook carefully considered interventions that preserved the integrity of the structure while enabling it to function as a contemporary hotel.
“ When you work with a building of this significance, you’ re constantly balancing respect for what exists with the need to ensure it remains viable for the future,” says MacNaughton.
“ Every decision has to satisfy both heritage and performance criteria.”
That discipline is most visible in the restoration approach, where interventions reflect both scale and sensitivity. Across the external fabric, original features were preserved and reinstated, including all of the building’ s 390 original sash windows. Other elements such as the chimneys, stonework, roofing and cast iron detailing were also preserved, ensuring the Victorian origins were considered. Inside, previously concealed elements such as fireplaces and decorative cornicing were uncovered and reintegrated into the guest experience, allowing the building’ s layered history to remain present rather than erased.
This included the introduction of more energyefficient systems and solutions designed to futureproof the building against evolving environmental and regulatory expectations.
“ The vision is for the hotel to become the most exciting independent hotel in the North and the number one in Leeds, and honouring heritage while modernising the fabric of the building are just a few of the ways to help us achieve that”, explains MacNaughton.
Beyond restoration, the transformation is defined by its interpretation of place. The design draws on Leeds’ industrial and cultural heritage, with references to the city’ s history.
“ We’ ve translated that history into material and visual cues throughout the hotel, from fabric selections inspired by wool textiles to references to Yorkshire’ s artistic legacy,” notes MacNaughton.
“ The aim is always to ensure each hotel feels individual and rooted in its own sense of place.”
That sense of place extends into the hotel’ s public areas, where the focus has been on creating a fluid and commercially responsive guest experience. The ground floor now operates as a connected environment rather than separate functions, with the reception, lounge, bar and restaurant designed to
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