The Great Western Hotel was built on Praed Street in front of the station from 1851 to 1854 by architect Philip Charles Hardwick, son of Philip Hardwick (designer of the Euston Arch) in a classical and French-chateau design. It opened on 9 June 1854, and had 103 bedrooms and 15 sitting rooms. Each corner contained a tower containing two additional floors beyond the five storeys of the main block. It was originally run by a consortium of GWR shareholders and staff, before the company took over operations completely in 1896. The station was substantially enlarged in 1906–1915 and a fourth span of was added on the north side, parallel to the others. The new span was built in a similar style to the original three spans, but the detailing is different and it has no transepts. The area between the rear of the hotel and the concourse is called the Lawn. It was originally unroofed and occupied by sidings, but was later built up to form part of the station's first concourse.