Page 54 - 건축구조 Vol. 29 / No. 04

The Londoner hotel Project focus

해외작품소개

Digging deep:

design and construction

of The Londoner hotel

SYNOPSIS
Located in the heart of London’s West End, The Londoner is a major new hotel on the
world-renowned Leicester Square. The development is situated on a constrained site,
bounded on all sides by roads. Planning restrictions limited the height of the building,
leading to the development having one of the deepest habitable-grade basements in the
world. The basement extends to over 30m deep, with six levels, meaning nearly half of the

building’s oor area is located below ground. This article provides an overview of the key
design and construction considerations associated with building such a deep basement
within the heart of London.

RACHEL COOPER Site
Project team MA, MEng, MSt (Cantab), CEng, MIStructE The 50m × 50m site consisted of 12 existing
buildings contained within one city block in the
Client: Edwardian Hotels Associate, Arup, Leeds, UK southwest corner of Leicester Square. Each
London of the buildings was acquired by Edwardian
JACK FIRTH Hotels London and was to be demolished to
Architect: Woods Bagot
make way for one destination hotel. There
MEng, CEng, MIStructE
Structural engineer: Arup were several shallow basements within these
Formerly Senior Engineer, Arup, Leeds, UK
existing buildings, including a two-screen
Services engineer, Fire Arup Odeon cinema, which had to be rehoused in
engineer, Acoustics, SIMON NEVILL the new development.
Facade engineer, The site is on the walking route between
BSc Dunelm, CEng, MICE
Lighting design, Leicester Square and Trafalgar Square, in
Accessibility and Associate Director, Arup, Sheffi eld, UK the centre of the theatre and  lm district
vertical transportation: of London. Neighbours to the site include
Introduction the National Gallery and the Westminster
Interior designers: Yabu Pushelberg Located in the heart of London’s West End, Reference Library. The plot was of high value,
(front of house) The Londoner is a major new development with enormous potential, but not without its
Woods Bagot on Leicester Square (Figure 1). Opened in constraints.
(back of house)
September 2021, the luxurious  ve-star hotel A UK Power Networks (UKPN) tunnel,
Construction manager: Blue Sky Building off ers 350 bedrooms and suites. In addition located 14m below the ground, cut across the
to the bedrooms, Edwardian Hotels London northwest corner of the site, restricting the size
Planning and cost JLL sought to include multiple restaurants and of the basement in this area.
consultant:
lounges, a rooftop bar, spa with swimming pool, As shown in Figure 3, the site is located
Facade artist: Ian Munroe and 624-seat ballroom within the development. in a densely developed area, with tight and
There was also a planning requirement to constricted streets on all sides, creating some
Contractors: McGee (basement integrate a two-screen Odeon cinema within the logistical challenges with the build. The site was,
and structural scheme to replace the art-deco cinema building however, constrained in other ways as well.
frame) formerly located on the site. The development was subject to a height
EE Smith ( tout) A large proportion of these amenities is limit as the site is situated within one of
Halsion (MEP) housed within the basement of the hotel, which the Westminster viewing corridors. These
Facade contractors: GIG, Grants and stretches to over 30m deep across six levels corridors exist to protect the views of St Paul’s
Darwen Terracotta (Figure 2), meaning nearly half of the building’s Cathedral and Westminster Palace from a
 oor area is located below ground. The Arup number of locations surrounding the city. This
Steel truss fabricator: Allerton Steel
team, led by Simon Nevill and Neil Hooton, restricted the height of the development to
provided a full multidisciplinary service. 36m or about nine  oors above ground.

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52 건 축 구 조 2022 _ 07 _ 08 제29권 / 제04호 thestructuralengineer.org | July 2022

Londoner Hotel_TSE July 2022_The Structural Engineer.indd 27 22/06/2022 17:55