citizenM HOTEL, BANKSIDE LONDON |
Tuesday 17 Jul 2012
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citizenM London Bankside, designed by Concrete Architectural Associates, will be the fourth hotel to open in the citizenM Hotels family, and offers mobile citizens of the world affordable luxury in the heart of the city. The concept of the hotel is to cut out all hidden costs and remove all unnecessary items, in order to provide its guests a luxury feel for a budget price.
The façade of the building is made of sand coloured stone panels with special designed brickwork pattern form two - 6 storey - blocks divided by an internal courtyard. The volume, as well as the architecture seeks a relationship with the former industrial area by its robust form and materialisation. Within this robust volume big glass windows of the rooms are pushed out. The large glass windows on the ground are placed within the building block, creating a natural transfer between inside and outside. The artwork of the building was commissioned to feature work by Mark Titchner because the designers desired to contribute to their local cultural environment. The artwork expresses the open and positive way of living and thinking of citizenM as well as its guests; the mobile citizen.
The ground floor is one open plan. Diverse areas are divided and made intimate by open cabinets, bespoke furniture pieces and the fully glazed courtyard. The building has two entrances, one entering the check-in area, the other one leading towards canteenM, the café and F&B area. The wooden entrance box gives a warm welcome. Opposite the fire place a blown up book houses the shop of Mendo Books. The latest and most interesting books on art, design, photography and other interesting social cultural items are there to browse through and for sale.
The public area of the ground floor is divided in several areas that we like to call living rooms. Our purpose is to create a home-environment, by designing working areas, dining areas and seating areas in cooperation with Vitra. The hotel canteen is mainly self-service. A red wooden bar with a granite stone top forms its heart. Next to that an open ‘bakery’ style kitchen has fresh food for the guests to indulge in. Large fridges offer drinks, sandwiches, salads, sushi and other kind of snacks and small meals.
The wooden terrace decking in the courtyard is a continuation of the interiors’ wooden floors. Silver birch trees, create an intimate outdoor area. Red coloured terrace seating provide place to hang around. Another public space- societyM, is created for a new type of worker: those who aren't bound by offices or office conventions, wanderers doing business wherever the connectivity's good and the coffee fresh. All rooms fully equipped with audiovisual equipment, white and black walls for notes, theories and scribbles, and the bespoke cabinet filled with inspirational items and books.
All the citizenM guestrooms are constructed off site. This means the outside measurements are restricted to enable the transport to the building-site. Within these measurements the guestroom will be continually evaluated and improved for every hotel. The bed stands in front of a floor to ceiling, wall to wall window and is super-king size. It’s white bed-linen and pillows offer a lounge area to watch TV on the flat LCD screen. The wet-room, which contains rain- and hand-shower and the toilet lights up in any colour you want and become a signature element in the room. An electronic mood pad with touch-screen allows visitors to control the entire room, setting the mood of the room to their choice.
Concrete Architectural Associates