Shoreditch Highgate Hotel, London
Posted in Future on 11 December, 2015
The 200-room Shoreditch Highgate Hotel will form part of a 319,000-square-foot commercial building, comprising and 127,724 square feet of commercial space. Also included, creative office space with shared amenities. Shoreditch Highgate will be Highgate Holdings first hotel in London. It will add to a portfolio of 40,000 hotel rooms globally, including such iconic New York hotels as The Knickerbocker on Times Square, The Refinery, The Quin, Westhouse, and Row NYC.
The new property’s site is located in the heart of Shoreditch, an area of dynamic social, physical and economic change. Shoreditch is home to a wide variety of tech start-ups and a significant part of London’s creative economy as well as being adjacent to The City.
The scheme, being developed by owner Highgate Holdings and designed by Gensler, mediates between these two historic environments, embracing Shoreditch’s existing infrastructure and the warehouses that characterise the streetscape, with ledges and terraces of differing heights.
Predominantly glass façades are framed with black steel in an exposed concrete structure, evoking the raw factory style of Shoreditch’s industrial past. Maximum glazing, particularly within the office space, provides a welcoming transparency. Roof terraces have been used to provide additional outdoor space as this is in short supply in the local area. Grounded by a solid, robust base, the building becomes visually lighter with each storey, culminating in a cantilevered sky lounge bar and event spaces.
“We are honoured to be working with Highgate on what is set to become a valuable asset for local professionals and the residents of East London,” said Duncan Swinhoe, Gensler regional managing principal. “The secured planning permission is a testament to the close working relationship between Gensler and our colleagues at the London Borough of Hackney.
“Thoughtful architecture is at the heart of our proposal and our design respects Shoreditch’s rich industrial legacy, while providing local entrepreneurs and creative businesses with office space and shared amenities. We are confident that Shoreditch Highgate Hotel will deliver jobs and opportunities for local people – and contribute to the area’s creative and cultural fabric for many years to come.”
The project is due to break ground in the second quarter 2016 and the hotel is expected to be complete by the end of 2018. Gensler previously designed The Ritz-Carlton Hotel and Residences in Los Angeles and Dubai, Fairmont Hotel Pittsburgh, The Beverly Hills Hotel and Bungalows, and Denver International Airport Hotel and Transit Center in Denver.