a divine experience
like a really long build up to the reveal. What do you think the new guests of the hotel will feel and think of the new Savoy when they walk in? What kind of reveal were you, as an architect hoping for? It was not so much secrecy as organisation that kept the hotel under wraps. The final reveal to the media and the public is never down to us and, as the architect, we have to be sensitive to the client’s plans in this regard. As with all 5* hotels, the word discreet was key throughout the project as this approach creates impact when the hotel opens. What we wanted was that long-standing guests would look around and feel that nothing had changed. It was my greatest pleasure to sit anonymously in the Front Hall a few days after the official opening and hear guests say just this.
Historically speaking: The hotel is such a landmark in London and will continue to be recognised as the hotel of
Q 20 Architects Choice
choice for many stars of the world for a long time. Was the brief you were given very specific to certain elements of the old Savoy style that you had to keep?
The initial brief was to bring the riverfront suites into the 21st Century by enlarging their bathrooms. This led onto further briefs and decisions to, for example, stabilise the riverfront façade and introduce a new lift. Other elements were worked on according to what we found when we stripped back the building. Throughout we worked closely with Westminster planning to gain everything that the client desired. The outcome is a beautiful building that has been protected whilst also meeting the client’s requirements. What we have created may differ in a few details from our original briefing but the important thing is that we worked with the building to best preserve its spirit and present it in its best light. Essentially the building guided us and told us what to do.
The Riverside restaurant for example, has never looked so good in all its history. It has changed and evolved for the better and now features as a gloriously beautiful restaurant, looking out over the river.
A matter of restoration: As with all restorations, the word ‘restrictions’ must come up a lot and cause problems during a project. Did you have any major obstacles to overcome? We were very lucky in that we did not really come across any ‘obstacles’. The detailed planning beforehand ensured that the work went as smoothly as possible but you do expect a certain amount of hold ups in this type of building because of her age. We have a huge amount of respect for projects involving buildings of this calibre and understanding them and their unique characteristics is key to being able to move forward.
Q
Q
Were there any elements of the
architectural make-up that you wanted to keep but had been specified to change or did you work closely with the hotel from the very beginning to make sure any such problems were worked out before the start?
A mutual respect between the professional team members is extremely valuable in this type of project. At The Savoy, everyone respected each other and had the utmost respect for the building they were working within. Of course, we couldn’t include every element of design that was discussed but changes and alterations to plans were met with calm and understanding for the nature of the hotel. As architects and with the Pierre Yves Rochon, we all worked with a base of knowledge for the building and what we intended to create. Three words can be used to work through the process of the restoration, we adapt, we restore and we make new.
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