This new 600-bed hotel at 36-46 Albert Embankment, London, was originally designed to provide luxury apartments for private sale. The internal layouts of the scheme were subsequently changed by developer Ocubis’ team, together with hotel specialists, Jestico + Whiles Architects, to accommodate 600 guest bedrooms without affecting the building’s appearance.
The development comprises a pair of 25-storey towers above a four-level basement on a narrow plot between Albert Embankment and the Network Rail viaduct, serving Waterloo Mainline Station. The former garage site is currently home to Vintage House, a Victorian warehouse that is to be retained and refurbished to provide office accommodation.
The hotel will offer guests expansive views across the river Thames, encompassing central London and the Westminster World Heritage site. At street-level, the hotel will feature a stunning circular triple-height entrance, bordered by botanical planting cabinets and a new public space.
Waterman’s team provided structural, building services, transportation and environmental consultancy for the development. Our structures experts addressed the unique challenges for the iconic building’s form by adopting reinforced-concrete framing, comprised of core-and-outrigger stability systems with balanced cantilever floors and ‘walking walls’.
Our MEP strategy for the project surpasses the stipulations set out in the new London plan, achieving a 67% improvement over the requirements of Part L 2016. This is achieved by using high efficiency, reverse cycle heat pump chillers, in combination with PV arrays on the tower roof. The glazed façade will adopt the latest triple glazing technology, with high performance solar coatings utilised to limit solar gain and a low U value to limit heat loss.
To further enhance the scheme’s ambitious environmental performance targets, heat recovery units will be installed to capture heat from shower wastewater, preheating the hot water supply to yield substantial savings in related energy use.
Client: Ocubis
Architect: Jestico + Whiles Architects
