Page 55 - 건축구조 Vol. 29 / No. 04

The Londoner hotel Project focus Project focus The Londoner hotel

Digging deep: design and construction of The Londoner hotel

Digging deep: I INTEND THIS

design and construction PROJECT TO BE MY
LEGACY. LONDON
HAS BEEN VERY
of The Londoner hotel GOOD TO ME AND I
WISH TO BUILD AN
AMAZING HOTEL
THAT CONTRIBUTES
TO LEICESTER
SQUARE BY
SYNOPSIS BECOMING A NEW
Located in the heart of London’s West End, The Londoner is a major new hotel on the DESTINATION AT THE
world-renowned Leicester Square. The development is situated on a constrained site, HEART OF THE WEST
FIGURE 2:
bounded on all sides by roads. Planning restrictions limited the height of the building, Cross-section of END AND LONDON’S
building, showing CINEMA EXPERIENCE
leading to the development having one of the deepest habitable-grade basements in the extent of basement
world. The basement extends to over 30m deep, with six levels, meaning nearly half of the Jasminder Singh, Chairman, Edwardian Hotels London

building’s oor area is located below ground. This article provides an overview of the key
Brief FIGURE 3: Aerial photo of site
design and construction considerations associated with building such a deep basement Edwardian Hotels London is a family-owned
within the heart of London. business and its Chairman aspired to build a
destination hotel as a legacy for both his family
and London. The proposed hotel was to be a
unique off ering, creating an urban resort in the
RACHEL COOPER Site centre of London.
Project team MA, MEng, MSt (Cantab), CEng, MIStructE The 50m × 50m site consisted of 12 existing Much of the revenue for the hotel will come
buildings contained within one city block in the from Londoners visiting the various bars,
Client: Edwardian Hotels Associate, Arup, Leeds, UK southwest corner of Leicester Square. Each restaurants and other leisure facilities that the
London of the buildings was acquired by Edwardian building has to off er. This meant signi cant
JACK FIRTH Hotels London and was to be demolished to space for food, beverage, events and
Architect: Woods Bagot
make way for one destination hotel. There entertainment spaces was required (Figure 4),
MEng, CEng, MIStructE
Structural engineer: Arup were several shallow basements within these in addition to the 350 bedrooms needed to
Formerly Senior Engineer, Arup, Leeds, UK
existing buildings, including a two-screen make a business case for the development.
Services engineer, Fire Arup Odeon cinema, which had to be rehoused in With the height and plan area constrained,
engineer, Acoustics, SIMON NEVILL the new development. and the space required within the development
Facade engineer, The site is on the walking route between to accommodate the various uses, it quickly
BSc Dunelm, CEng, MICE
Lighting design, Leicester Square and Trafalgar Square, in became apparent that a deep basement would
Accessibility and Associate Director, Arup, Sheffi eld, UK the centre of the theatre and  lm district be necessary to make the project viable.
vertical transportation: of London. Neighbours to the site include
Introduction the National Gallery and the Westminster Summary of uses contained within basement
Interior designers: Yabu Pushelberg Located in the heart of London’s West End, Reference Library. The plot was of high value, | Large ballroom combined with other conference
(front of house) The Londoner is a major new development with enormous potential, but not without its and meeting room facilities to accommodate
Woods Bagot on Leicester Square (Figure 1). Opened in constraints. 1000 people in conference mode. FIGURE 4: Requirements for facilities and amenities
(back of house)
September 2021, the luxurious  ve-star hotel A UK Power Networks (UKPN) tunnel, | Two-screen Odeon cinema to seat 570, with
Construction manager: Blue Sky Building off ers 350 bedrooms and suites. In addition located 14m below the ground, cut across the dedicated entrance.
to the bedrooms, Edwardian Hotels London northwest corner of the site, restricting the size | Restaurant with dedicated entrance.
Planning and cost JLL sought to include multiple restaurants and of the basement in this area. | Spa, swimming pool and gym.
consultant:
lounges, a rooftop bar, spa with swimming pool, As shown in Figure 3, the site is located | Back-of-house facilities, including kitchens,
Facade artist: Ian Munroe and 624-seat ballroom within the development. in a densely developed area, with tight and laundry, staff canteen and changing facilities.
There was also a planning requirement to constricted streets on all sides, creating some | Plant areas.
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. Ground conditions
frame) formerly located on the site. The development was subject to a height The ground conditions for any proposed
EE Smith ( tout) A large proportion of these amenities is limit as the site is situated within one of basement are important. The site comprised
Halsion (MEP) housed within the basement of the hotel, which the Westminster viewing corridors. These 5m of made ground and river terrace deposits
Facade contractors: GIG, Grants and stretches to over 30m deep across six levels corridors exist to protect the views of St Paul’s overlying 45m of London clay. The London clay
Darwen Terracotta (Figure 2), meaning nearly half of the building’s Cathedral and Westminster Palace from a in turn is underlain by Lambeth group, Thanet
 oor area is located below ground. The Arup number of locations surrounding the city. This sands and chalk.
Steel truss fabricator: Allerton Steel
team, led by Simon Nevill and Neil Hooton, restricted the height of the development to The site sloped from north to south with a 3m
provided a full multidisciplinary service. 36m or about nine  oors above ground. change in level.

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