Camden’s planners give go ahead for developer to blitz former 1980s music venue along with late-18th century buildings

The former home of an iconic 1980s club that helped launch the careers of Spandau Ballet and Boy George is set to become a new apartment hotel complex.

Camden Council has approved plans to demolish a modified late 18th century building in Covent Garden that hosted the Blitz Club between 1979 and 1980, leaving a lasting imprint on music and culture for decades.

On Thursday 30 July the planning committee granted proposals to knock down the former nightclub’s premises and refurbish the adjacent eight-storey Edwardian building, Kingsway House, which has stood vacant since 2022. Both structures will be integrated into a single 80-room complex operated by Beyond Aparthotels.

The “aparthotel” is a form of visitor accommodation that comprises apartments with hotel-like amenities and services, but with more space and privacy, making it more closely resemble a traditional apartment. However, it remains strictly commercial visitor accommodation and not permanent residences.

The setup is designed to encourage “slightly longer lengths of stay than a traditional, transient hotel”. The operator expects most weekend business will come from medium-term stays of one to three weeks.

According to curators at the Design Museum, the “trailblazing” club was “where 1980s style began”, inspired by David Bowie, cabaret culture, punk, and soul, and credited with fostering the New Romantic subculture. It was renowned for its strict door policy that saw co-founder Steve Strange turn away anyone not dressed like “a walking piece of art”, according to the London Museum.

Regular patrons of the exclusive Tuesday club nights at the venue were dubbed the “Blitz Kids”, including fashion designer Stephen Linard and the founders of the influential fashion label BodyMap.

During the 18 months it was open, the club’s stage saw performances from Boy George, Visage and Spandau Ballet in their first live performance.

A commemorative plaque recording the location of The Blitz Club where Spandau Ballet first performed on 5 December 1979 would be retained and reinstated on the Great Queen Street frontage.

A local group, the Kingsway Conservation Area Advisory Committee, formally objected to the application on several grounds, including that the replacement building would be too large and imposing for surrounding streets, and that despite its poor condition, the former club premises made a positive contribution to the area’s historic character.

However, planning offices viewed that the additional height and mass caused “low-level” harm and were outweighed by the benefits of bringing the derelict buildings back into use.

At the planning committee, Councillor Adam Harrison (Labour, Bloomsbury) raised a concern that rooms in the apart-hotel could operate under Airbnb-style letting.

Case officer Josh Lawler confirmed that they could do but that there would be no restriction on that type of letting as it would comply with the proposed use.

Cllr Anna Wright (Labour, Highgate) also raised concern about the proliferation of Airbnb-style accommodation.

Permanent self-contained housing is not proposed on the site and Cllr Jim Monahan (Green, Holborn and Covent Garden) asked why homes had not been considered in the Great Queen Street and Parker Street terraced buildings which he said were “ideally suited” as they were originally built for such purpose.

Lawlor responded by saying that the uplift in commercial floorspace would not trigger enough residential square metres to warrant a demand for the applicant to return permanent residential use to the terraced houses.

Monahan also criticised the way the upward extension of the replacement buildings would harm the row of neighbouring heritage assets which date back to the late 18th and early 19th century.

He said planning officers had not, in his view, justified the benefits of additional apart-hotel rooms against the harm to the conservation area from the increased height of the new buildings.

The planning committee voted by a majority to approve the application.

Camden Council planning committee, 30 July 2026: Kingsway House, 103 Kingsway; 4 Great Queen Street; and 62 Parker Street. Application no: 2025/5575/P. Agenda. Webcast.

Additional reporting by Linus Rees.

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