news


in brief •£6.5m hotel scheme The first-year expected attendance for Riverside Museum is 625,000 visitors (to 31 March 2012) £74m Riverside Museum opens


The £74m Riverside Museum, designed by Zaha Hadid and delivered by building contractor BAM, opens this month in Glasgow. Funded by Glasgow City Council, the


Heritage Lottery Fund and the Riverside Museum Appeal, the museum is the new home for Glasgow’s Transport and Technology Collection comprising around 3,000 objects.


The museum is one of the most complex


structures built in the UK, and its self- supporting roof is made up of a latticework of structural steel, weighing more than 2,500 tonnes. Beneath the museum is


1.2km of underground trenches for the services, and there is more than 70km (44 miles) of cabling throughout the building. The outer skin of the museum consists of 24,000 zinc panels on the outer surface, weighing about 185 tonnes. The majority are bespoke and were engineered on site due to the building’s flowing, undulating design. The highest point of the museum is 36.6m (120ft). An events plaza north of the museum is


capable of hosting events for up to 8,000 people, and a summer programme of events to celebrate the opening of Riverside is planned.


Denizen Contracts has secured a £6.7m contract to transform Eagle Star House in Newcastle into a four star, 148-room boutique hotel with a 120-seater Marco Pierre White Steakhouse Bar & Grill restaurant. Work will involve constructing a single storey extension at the back of the building, full mechanical and electrical installation and the complete refurbishment and fit-out of the old office building into a purpose built hotel. The hotel is due for completion in spring 2012.


•Floating river walk


Up to £60m has been pledged to build a kilometre long floating river walk along the north bank of the River Thames in time for summer 2012. Asset managers Venus Group of Singapore has agreed to finance the project, designed by Gensler, and detailed plans will be submitted to the City of London Corporation and other relevant authorities.


A Memorandum of Agreement has been signed between the company and the London Mayor in a deal that will see 30 per cent of net revenues raised through the commercial operation of the River Park shared with the Mayor for the public benefit.


The London River Park will provide a continuous 12m wide floating pontoon to run parallel to the existing pathways and streets that currently connect this important stretch of river frontage bordering the City of London between Blackfriars Bridge and just beyond The Customs House.


Urgent conservation work is needed at Temperate House, Kew Gardens Five projects hit HLF jackpot


The Temperate House Project at the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew, London is one of five projects to receive funding from the Heritage Lottery Fund (HLF) totalling £52m. The project has received initial support


for a £15m HLF bid, including £890,900 of development funding. Plans include conservation work to the Temperate House; converting the adjoining Evolution House into a centre for community outreach and engagement; setting up an apprenticeship scheme and volunteer programme; and creating a new arm to Kew’s schools education programme.


The Grade II listed Hastings Pier, which


suffered extensive fire damage last year, secured support for an £8.75m HLF bid, including £357,400 development funding. Hastings Pier & White Rock Trust has put together plans to restore the historic fabric of the pier and create new facilities which will give impetus to the social and economic regeneration of the town. Windermere Steamboat Museum, The British Museum World Conservation and Exhibition Centre and Geffrye Museum: Museum of the Home, also received project funding from HLF.


Eight themed pavilions are planned along its route to showcase London and for hosting events. The developer is currently working with Gensler, construction and consultancy firm Mace, and its other project partners on finalising the concept design to ensure that the tourist attraction will deliver a lasting legacy for London after the 2012 Games.


•Quality hotel revival


Portland Consulting Engineers is refurbishing and restructuring the Quality Hotel in Boldon, south Tyneside, following a fire last year which caused extensive damage to the front of the hotel, reception area, health spa and function room. Working with project partners including cost consultant, Fitzsimons and architects, Street Design, the company is redesigning and refurbishing the areas which are salvageable in addition to designing structures to rebuild what has been deemed beyond repair, providing a fully modern and cost effective facility.


bflmagazine.co.uk 7


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