The Ned NoMad

In the 1920s the Midland Bank was one of the largest and most powerful in the world.To celebrate its achievements, the bank wanted a new London headquarters – a building that would stand out from the straight-laced Victorian architecture of The City.

There was only one person to turn to: Sir Edwin Landseer Lutyens, known to friends and family as ‘Ned.’ Lutyens, who was an architect for the rich and famous, spent the next four years drafting a vast 29,450sqm Grade-I listed building, designed to convey the impression of dependability and security demanded by a bank.

The Midland Bank was later bought by HSBC, which remained in the building until 2007 when it relocated to a new head office in Canary Wharf. Five years later, in 2012, Ron Burkle fell in love with the space and saw an opportunity to create a new approach to hospitality. He set about transforming the building into The Ned.