Riverbank Park Plaza London : Architecture

All photos by Hufton & Crow, received from RHWL Architects 5 Sep 2006: Riverbank Park Plaza Hotel Albert Embankment, London SE1, UK Gear Construction Management Ltd £60m + April 2005 Photography: Hufton + Crow Riverbank Park Plaza photos by Hufton & Crow, received from RHWL Architects 5 Sep 2006 A twelve storey, 450-room hotel in a prominent location on London's Albert Embankment, opposite Tate Britain and Millbank Tower. It was completed in the summer of 2005 and at the time it was the largest new-build hotel project in the capital. In addtion to the acoustically secure bedrooms and associated bar and restaurant, the building has two large basement level banquet halls, each accommodating more than 1,500 people. The structure is designed to take a further five floors of 'sky-suites', designed to be added at a future date. The hotel rooms are made acoustically secure by a complex of three glazing units: high-specification double glazing is fitted directly to the rooms, which are separated from the single-glazed façade by steel gantries. This arrangement helps provide the building with a façade of considerable depth and texture, and also allows access for cleaning and maintenance. Above the hotel entrance and forming part of the building's principal façade — facing the Thames — a glass box sits within the large void cut into the main volume of the structure. It houses the main bar and restaurant, and cantilevers in the direction of the street, allowing cars to pass underneath and drop off visitors at the hotel lobby. construction time: 30 months structural engineer: Israel David, and NRM Consultants M&E engineer: Rybka Battle fire engineer: Warrington Fire acoustics: Ian Sharland Ltd traffic consultant: Arup Transport quantity surveyor: Gear Construction Management Ltd planning consultant: Nathaniel Lichfield and Partners main contractor: Gear Construction Management Ltd Riverbank Park Plaza photos by Hufton & Crow, received from RHWL Architects 5 Sep 2006