Completed in November 2010, the City is a luxury hotel with 98 rooms of hotel, restaurant and bar located in the old Bethnal Green Town Hall in the heart of the thriving East End of London. That includes the provision of a contemporary extension in the form of a new floor and upper wing, the project also includes restoration and refurbishment of existing Grade II listed building.
Originally built in 1910 Edwardian town hall in Cambridge Heath Road was widened considerably in 1937 in Patriot Plaza, where the entrance of the new hotel can be found. Over the years, the building of 7,500 square meters located municipal administration of the area, but was the victim of numerous modifications insensitive to preserve and eventually fell into disuse and was abandoned in 1993. Used only as a place for film and television, the building was a decline in the years until its purchase in 2007 by Singapore hotelier Peng Loh.
Consulted before making the purchase and immediately thereafter, directors Michel rare Rozencwajg Gonçalves da Costa and Nathalie were commissioned by clients with the design of a contemporary luxury hotel is sympathetic to the existing building, to restore this building and also add to volume, with an extension. rarely saw the project as the third age of the building after the 1910 and 1937 phases, and an opportunity to reinvent and restore a forgotten architectural treasures of the East End.
Although construction is at risk register, rare finds that the project approach, a guiding concept for the development and use of traditional techniques and motifs in contemporary design and cutting edge manufacturing technologies, won the approval of English Heritage and planning permission was granted by Tower Hamlets in 2008.
The extension of the building, a new wing behind the original structure of 1910 and an additional floor that sits atop the roof of the extension 1937, provides another 1,500 square meters of housing. Wrapped in its entirety by a laser-cut powder-coated aluminum skin, without windows or doors are visible externally, allowing you to create a striking abstract backdrop to the original structure, while making a definitive statement on the new architecture.
The pattern cut in the skin was taken from a rare pattern book for the project. A feature of the original art deco in the Council Chamber inspired the parametrically defined pattern book, a design exercise evident not only in the aluminum skin, but many of the rare new interventions in the hotel of radiators and air conditioning covers decorative wall panels. The effect of cutting pattern on the skin is performative, allowing natural light into the rooms behind it, while preserving the privacy of those inside and out.
The shape of facets of the skin of the extension and the roof was dictated by the light and views that had to be maintained by the adjacent buildings. rarely is the answer to these design parameters is an example of its ability to provide harmonious elegance and functionality. distinctive shape of the skin is repeated in features that include reception reception corridor ceilings brass and enlargement, which meets once glamorous and function.
The dimensions of each of the 98 rooms are different, something dictated by the nature of the building and its listed status, which will allow Rare to provide 98 unique designs and patterns. rarely done any planning an internal reorganization of space in the building and inserted areas of comfort of a contemporary hotel rooms with what they call their "furniture space." pods as discrete beds, desks, storage space, kitchens and bathrooms rendered in materials ranging from CNC designed MDF, Corian, lime green marble, glass, oak and stone lamps Cardoso Waltz with specially commissioned Viabizzuno providers, all work break, they can sit comfortably in the historical context of the building. Using a design strategy specific to each room offers charm and function, maintaining a clear distinction between the restored and the new.
The reinvention and restoration of the existing building was fueled by an intense rare archival research of the Municipality of original design elements by many highly skilled craftspeople, bringing the building back to its former glorious splendor, giving new life with marble floors, ornate molded ceilings, Edwardian and Art Deco details. Besides the rare homes have also provided a new 14-meter titanium in the basement swimming pool tiles, restored the Board and the Board of Mayor for the functions and separate bar and restaurant in the wing of the Edwardian building. The bar and restaurant, called Traveler and accessed from the original building in Cambridge Heath Road entrance, are decorated only as rare pieces are decorated with tapestries of injected silicone and chandeliers designed in collaboration with textile designer Tzuri Guetta.
Architects: rare
Location: London, England
Project area: 7,500 sqmProject year: 2010Photographs: Courtesy of rare
elevation 02
© rare
© rare
plan 01
.
