The building was constructed in 1929 by Sir Victor Sassoon as the Cathay Hotel, within Sassoon House (1926), designed by Palmer and Turner (P&T). The ten-story building is topped by its famous pyramidal copper roof, rising 77 meters, with white Italian marble floors and rare Lalique glasswork. The hotel hosted guests including Charlie Chaplin and Chiang Kai-shek, and playwright Noël Coward reportedly wrote "Private Lives" there in four days. It closed in 2007 for renovation and reopened in 2010 as the Fairmont Peace Hotel. It stands at Shanghai's most famous corner, where the Bund meets East Nanjing Road.