Images charles hosea
One of London’s more whimsical architecture competitions has been completed once and for all, and the much speculated ‘a room for London’ design concept now stands.
The competition, run by Living Architecture, boasted a much lusted after brief that offered the winning design team the chance to build a room on top of the Queen Elizabeth Hall, to act as a temporary accommodation space throughout the 2012 Olympic Games. The incredible competition, which ran throughout 2011, picked the finalist collaboration team of architectural firm David Kohn architects and Fiona Banner with their quirky and imaginative design scheme which has seen the completion of a boat-shaped living space overlooking some of the most famous London sights.
The design is a reflection of the city’s strong literary roots, taking its riverboat form from Joseph Conrad’s ‘Heart of Darkness’. The nautically shaped temporary hotel also offers a strange connection back to the Thames, all the while offering breathtaking views of Big Ben and other prime London icons.
a room for london- installation in progress
Timber framed and clad, the space includes upper and lower viewing decks, both of which are wood panelled, with dark wooden floorboards, which also feature throughout the double bedroom, kitchenette and library.
The winning design, however, differs greatly from the other entries. While in terms of location, all of the entrants shared the same rooftop positioning, an increasingly popular move in population dense cities as seen in the creation of Bold Design’s French office, their aesthetic style could not differ more.
'a room for london' by julian king architect
images julian king architect
Architectural firm Julian King architects offered up a futuristic translucent sphere-shaped space that would glow through the use of LED lights and function with renewable energy created through exterior photovoltaic cells. In similar form, French architectural firm Atelier 37.2 created the designs for a futuristic, brightly lit rainbow coloured rectangular space that obviously didn’t appeal to the competition judges as much as the literary whimsy of the winning design.
However, certain members of the public have not welcomed the completed project, calling it ‘infantile’, and going so far as to call it careless and insensitive citing the ‘victims of the Japanese tsunami would find the juxtaposition of a “boat” on top of a building slightly less than appealing or whimsical’.
'london prism' for 'a room for london' by atelier 37.2
image courtesy atelier 37.2
It is clear that London is pulling out of all of the stops in order to make the most of the tourists soon to arrive for this year’s games. However, there is a fine line between capitalising upon an event and turning it into a circus, which may well have been crossed in the minds of those who see this latest addition to the London skyline as childish and insensitive.
