Foster + Partners Unveil 5 Star Hotel for Heathrow

Recently approved by the Mayor of London, a new design-forward, energy-efficient 5-star hotel will be built very close to the Heathrow Airport. It will be the only one of its kind in the area. Foster + Partners, designers of projects like the Bowery Art Gallery, Twin Paris Skyscrapers and even an elephant house, is in charge of the design while Riva Properties will develop the hotel. If you’re a frequent flier to the UK, you’ll be pleased to know that the Bath Road property will have all the amenities you could ask for—sustainability, energy efficiency, meeting facilities and restaurants, a gym, pool and spa, even a bowling alley.

The exterior of the new hotel will be covered in layers of glass, just one small part of the highly energy-efficient strategies characteristic of Foster+Partners designs. In addition to flooding the interior with daylight, the glass shell will act as a noise barrier from planes taking off and landing. While the hotel is actually 13 stories high, many of the floors are sunk below ground level, which gives the building a lower profile similar to the surrounding structures. Hotel rooms are contained into six different pavilions connected by bridges and enveloped by the glass shell.

From the entrance lobby, guests can look through the glass deck to view the pool, restaurant and waterfall below. The conference center, which has a separate street entrance, is lit from an atrium on the roof of the building that brings light down to the lower levels.

The new 5-star hotel is meant to help spur the redevelopment of the area surrounding Heathrow Airport. According to Grant Brooker, Executive Director of Foster + Partners, “This will be the first five-star hotel in the immediate vicinity of Heathrow, and marks a key stage in the area’s transformation. We have enjoyed great support and encouragement from local residents, businesses and the Borough of Hillingdon and we believe that the hotel’s wide range of facilities will ensure that it plays a vital role in serving both international travelers and the local community.
+ Foster + Partners


by Bridgette Steffen
April 22, 2009

A-Lab Unveils Stunning Eco-Office for Norway

This stunning energy-efficient office recently won a competition to design the 2012 location for Norway’s oil company StatoilHydro. Conceived by Oslo’s A-lab, the modern and flexible office compound took the winning bid from a pool of some 40 entries. The new site and office center brings together two previously separated buildings, opening up more efficient communication and reducing the need for cross-town travel and courier services. Five separate wings lie on top of each other in the shape of a star, keeping particular offices regionalized while still attached.

The office’s interior was designed to facilitate flexible functions with rooms that can adapt from large meeting centers to multi-person offices. The building’s interior climate will be controlled by district heating and cooling, an energy and cost efficient method that reduces wasted heating power and can reach a large amount of space. Outside, a park and gardens will surround the office leading out to the Oslo waterfront in Fornebu. Some details of the structure have yet to be divulged, however zoning is set to begin shortly. The building will open for business in the fall of 2012.

+ A-Lab

Via Bustler




by Alexandra Kain
March 4, 2009

OFIS Unveils 4 Self-Sustaining Islands in Maldives

Slovenian architect studio OFIS was recently granted a 25 year lease by the Maldivian government to develop a set of four islands into tropical eco resorts. Each island’s plan demonstrates concern for the local environment, the ability to self-sustain, and the developers’ genuine intent to maintain the cultural and ecological authenticity of the local area. Their proposal, which includes a 100-bed 5-star resort, will be spread throughout the islands with a variety of different accommodation styles, from bungalow to villa. This will all be done according to local law, of course, which, among other stipulations, requires that no building can be higher than the tallest tree on the island.

OFIS selected their four islands from a pool of 14 available for the project. Local environmental experts surveyed the islands to determine designs and methods most compatible with reef, wind and sun patterns, and local vegetation. The proposed construction materials are locally sourced bamboo, straw and wood that will be prefabricated on the mainland as much as possible.

The first island, Funamadua, is a relaxing sanctuary with seaview verandas and a spa. The second, Hadahaa, connects to a local village. Villas wrap around the island giving each one a private patio. The third and fourth islands, Konotta and Randheli, include similar offshore dwellings where visitors will feel like they are simply floating above the sea.

+ OFIS

Via ArchDaily




by Alexandra Kain
April 27, 2009