The Mayfair most people walk past
A Bauhaus original
Before it became the boutique hotel Mayfair regulars would rather keep to themselves, 45 Park Lane was a Modernist office building, designed by Bauhaus founder Walter Gropius in the early 1960s. Thierry Despont later reimagined it in Art Deco style. The sleek fins on the façade now cover Gropius's original concrete, so the building carries two eras of design at once. Inside, Despont's light, colour and pattern, along with works by Damien Hirst and Sir Peter Blake, set the tone for what follows.
Two neighbours, one short walk
In 1930s Hampstead, Gropius lived among a small circle of Modernists that included Henry Moore, Barbara Hepworth and Ben Nicholson. They were friends, neighbours and all rethinking what art and architecture could become.
A few streets from the hotel, Moore's side of that story is still on show. Above New Bond Street, a row of his sculptures runs along a mid-century building, and his figures appear to be stepping out of the stone. Few passers-by look up. Those who do will see something that’s been hiding in plain sight since the 1950s.
Detail everywhere
This is a neighbourhood that rewards a closer look. On Albemarle Street, the Paul Smith shopfront is made of cast iron (cut, of course, with the precision of a good suit) and the designer's own sketches are set into the panels. Elsewhere, an Edwardian mansion's romantic towers and carved stonework recall a time when architects were storytellers. And behind one unassuming black front door is a past that includes a bishop's home and one of London's most talked-about private members' clubs.
The route also opens doors most visitors never get through. Each Making Mayfair stay includes special access, accompanied by an expert, to either Gagosian or Thaddaeus Ropac – two of the art world’s most influential galleries. Everything else is for your guide to reveal…
Shaped around you
The Making Mayfair tour was created by Vicky Richardson, former Head of Architecture at the Royal Academy of Arts, as the latest chapter in Dorchester Collection's Legendary Artists series. Lasting for two hours, it’s entirely private and adapts to whatever catches your eye. Someone drawn to Georgian brickwork will have a different walk to someone who came for the galleries, and your tour can be extended on request.
Back where it started
Your walk ends where it began: at 45 Park Lane. Hyde Park sits at the window, BAR 45 invites you to carry on the conversation, and CUT – known by many regulars as the best steak restaurant London has to offer – sets the evening in motion.
Want more of the Hampstead story? Pick up the thread with Hepworth – Rhythm & Form, also at 45 Park Lane. Or explore what’s on at the hotel, from current exhibitions to special events and more.