O.K. I know, I know this doesn’t really deserve its own thread but at the moment its lurking in the London Wall thread and bits of threads elsewhere so I thought as it is in a significant location (and to make it easier to update) I’d start one.

http://www.fosterandpartners.com/Projects/1301/Default.aspx

“The scheme for a 170 bedroom hotel and 90 apartments creates a new landmark frontage in this prominent location at the east end of The Strand. The project combines the restoration of the listed façade of Marconi House with a new Portland Stone building. The design integrates the existing building and contemporary additions.”

“The corner plot was developed in 1903 with the construction of the Gaiety Theatre and a Masonic Lodge, with conversion of the lodge in 1911 to offices for Marconi. 'Marconi House' became the site of the BBC’s very first radio broadcast (a news bulletin) on 14 November 1922. Bomb damage in World War II instigated the closure of the theatre, to be replaced with the English Electric Building in the 1950s, with the entire building being converted to Citibank House in the 1970s.”

http://i202.photobucket.com/albums/aa278/fit3xl/london/uk_london_gaiety.jpg

http://i202.photobucket.com/albums/aa278/fit3xl/london/MarconiHouse1924.jpg

http://i202.photobucket.com/albums/aa278/fit3xl/london/Gaietythennow3.jpg

The majority of the existing structure is being demolished by Cantillon Demolition to enable construction of the new 11-storey Silken Hotel. This enabling works package involves the retention of the original 1903 façade around the Marconi House site of the building, as well as construction of a three storey basement below pavement level.

http://i202.photobucket.com/albums/aa278/fit3xl/london/untitled.jpg

http://i202.photobucket.com/albums/aa278/fit3xl/London334-1.jpg

http://i202.photobucket.com/albums/aa278/fit3xl/London333-1.jpg

http://i202.photobucket.com/albums/aa278/fit3xl/London339.jpg

Anyway, the reason for all the above is that the windows and inner part of the facade have started to go up. IMO this building desperately needs the cladding to be top-notch in order to lift the design - here's hoping.

http://i202.photobucket.com/albums/aa278/fit3xl/london/LNDN252.jpg

http://i202.photobucket.com/albums/aa278/fit3xl/london/LNDN253-1.jpg

http://i202.photobucket.com/albums/aa278/fit3xl/london/LNDN254.jpg

God this building is so bland. My bus goes past here every day, and when I see the other buildings around it... all of them so grand, ornate and beautiful... To be honest I'm amazed this got planning permission. It will stick out like a sore thumb. Added to which, it looms over Somerset House.


http://i23.photobucket.com/albums/b387/wjfox2005/London_general/west_end/13.jpg

What a huge step backwards.

it look so 60's

Some sort of small Cardinal Place building would have fit in that site perfectly. Something bold and opening up the vista towards the church further east.

Now Foster is trying to hard to get attention with something rather bland, even if he's got the cladding right, the use he makes of the site is not adequate considering the grand decor.

eeek, fugly bugly! Featureless and with a stumpy top. Is surrounded by lanes of heavy traffic and the thundersome entry to Waterloo Bridge, but surely that could have done better?

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v281/luke82/BuildingPics300508039.jpg

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v281/luke82/BuildingPics300508040.jpg

God this building is so bland. My bus goes past here every day, and when I see the other buildings around it... all of them so grand, ornate and beautiful... To be honest I'm amazed this got planning permission. It will stick out like a sore thumb. Added to which, it looms over Somerset House.




100% agreed! the circular 'tower' on the corner looks naff. hopefully the cladding will add a bit to the building, but i'm not particularly hopeful based on the renders.
what bus do you get? i go past it on the bus every day on the way into work TOO!

I used to work in the Novello theatre just opposite this Hotel, and it seems like it has been underconstruction forever! I agree the shape is very unforgiving and just looks so bland, in what is a beautiful part of the west end, lets just hope it surprises us!

I have railed against this building for some time now - it is an absolute disgrace that such a poor building should blight such importent site in the heart of the West End. Foster should hang his head in Shame. This Hotel building belongs next to a motorway by an airport - even then it would be bad! How can people stop Ian Richoes Towers, complain about LBT and 'Classic Views' etc then stand by and see crap like this go through?:ohno::ohno:

Each progressive building just gets blander (although none of the previous buildings have actually been bad).....i dread to think what will get built once Fosters nasty piece of shite gets demolished in a couple of decades:ohno:

it's not often there's a building we all agree about, but this seems to be one...

Nasty - at the very best it looks like something out of Buck Rodgers, at the worse it is befitting of a place with the other cut price furniture shops on the North Circular.

Are you guys insane! It's an awesome building. Masterpiece!






























Kidding.

LOL

i much prefered what was there (:

this sort of building only looks good at night, which is not really the basis of a great building. How this was allowed to be built is just bizarre. Its so devoid of joy.

looks like a 1980s library, or a 1990s mall.

bland and cheap and disfiguring to the area around it, which happens to be one of the few remaining architectural setpieces in the centre.

Absofuckinlutely typical.

Foster in all likelihood was probably told not to upstage the conservation area

With good quality cladding this could be exceptional.

This is having a damaging and overwhelming impact on Somerset House from Waterloo Bridge - at least 3 or 4 floors of steel looming directly above the rooftop. I've said it before, but it simply beggars belief that English Heritage don't even bat an eyelid at this; yet they manage to drag the Doon Street tower through a public inquiry when it has only a very marginal impact.

I agree, I took myself over Waterloo bridge at the weekend to have a look back at Somerset House and the Silken Hotel is very prominent from there. Now I don't really have a problem with that in itself, since there are other buildings popping up behind Somerset House, and anyway I don't believe this building should be treated as one of the crown jewels in London that warrant this level of protection. But as you say, the issue here is English Heritage's double standard. It reveals what we already know, that they just don't like tall buildings. There's a case to be made against Doon Street, I'm not sure the community facilities fully make up for a lack of affordable or social housing, but that's an entirely different argument to the aesthetic one made by EH and even CABE in this case.

Only in London....:|

With good quality cladding this could be exceptional.

Disagree, with exceptional cladding this could be acceptable. :)

Disagree, with exceptional cladding this could be acceptable. :)

I may have exaggerated.
I feel positive about it because it is an antidote to the many glassy 'look at me' buildings vying for attention. This looks quite subtle for a change, but could be very stylish with it - especially with those curves.

Anyone finding this scheme acceptable is surely exceptional when in truth it is dirisable, abysmal and objectionable:ohno:

utter wank!

Anyone finding this scheme acceptable is surely exceptional when in truth it is dirisable, abysmal and objectionable:ohno:

No - it's not at all acceptable because it isn't even finished yet! How can you be so dismissive based on some renders?

^^Calm down dear! (Don't you mean it's not exceptional by the way?) For me the render is enough for me to know this building is a dog! - Just take a look at this site and you will find thousands of posts by all the forumers expressing opinions - both possitive and negative based only on renders - just take the Shard and the Pinnacle for example - lots of strong opinions but no actual buildings!

^^Calm down dear! (Don't you mean it's not exceptional by the way?) For me the render is enough for me to know this building is a dog! - Just take a look at this site and you will find thousands of posts by all the forumers expressing opinions - both possitive and negative based only on renders - just take the Shard and the Pinnacle for example - lots of strong opinions but no actual buildings!

If I was any calmer while writing that I would've been asleep. No, I mean the building is unacceptable because it is unfinished . I know that's obvious but many people seem to forget that it may turn out well when completed. If the render is enough for you - then fair enough. I'm reserving judgment until I see the actual building.

I think that sometimes it's much easier to make judgements based on renders. It's difficult to imagine how the Shard could turn out badly, but even that's possible.

Well I admire your optimism pmun;

From the South Bank;

http://i202.photobucket.com/albums/aa278/fit3xl/london/various094.jpg

And Somerset House Courtyard;

http://i202.photobucket.com/albums/aa278/fit3xl/london/various096.jpg

The windows are all in place now;

http://i202.photobucket.com/albums/aa278/fit3xl/london/various101.jpg

http://i202.photobucket.com/albums/aa278/fit3xl/london/various099.jpg

I don't think I'd mind the relative blandness of the side walls as long as the corner tower was a bit more of a feature;

http://i202.photobucket.com/albums/aa278/fit3xl/london/various098.jpg

http://i299.photobucket.com/albums/mm301/heringtonandherington/IMG_0004-3.jpg

http://i299.photobucket.com/albums/mm301/heringtonandherington/IMG_0005-3.jpg

http://i299.photobucket.com/albums/mm301/heringtonandherington/IMG_0006-3.jpg

http://i299.photobucket.com/albums/mm301/heringtonandherington/IMG_0007-1.jpg

http://i299.photobucket.com/albums/mm301/heringtonandherington/IMG_0008-2.jpg

http://i299.photobucket.com/albums/mm301/heringtonandherington/IMG_0009-2.jpg

http://i299.photobucket.com/albums/mm301/heringtonandherington/IMG_0011-3.jpg

http://i299.photobucket.com/albums/mm301/heringtonandherington/IMG_0012-3.jpg

http://i299.photobucket.com/albums/mm301/heringtonandherington/IMG_0013-3.jpg

http://i299.photobucket.com/albums/mm301/heringtonandherington/IMG_0015-4.jpg

the circular tower just looks wrong there.

It will be interesting to see the finished result here. The quality of external materials being used will be vital in ensuring that the new addition is in keeping with the retained Marconi exterior and that the building is of a suitably high quality.

I'm glad they're inserting original looking windows into the old facade.

why is London so into facadism? What happens to all those marble and ornate interiors?

^^Something I have often whinged about - Buildings are more than just their external facades. We are treading a very dangerous path when facadism , or 'Deathmasking' is seen as preservation. It is not. It renders a building into little more than a film set.

Indeed, it's especially worse when the the little remaining part of the original building is engulfed by an overbearing pile of crap like this hotel.

Was Foster drunk when he designed this?

I posted this in the Elizebeth House thread, and I step into this thread and find my comments are well and truly justified so I may as well post it again:

Don't know why any of you are surprised, this is what standard, 21st century architecture is these days, particularly in the UK it seems: dull glass boxes, of varying shapes and sizes.

We might ocassionally get some rare gems that dare to be innovative and elegant like LBT, Bish, Leadenhall....of course it helps that those are skyscrapers which automatically gives them more soar and appeal then a low-rise development.....but your every-day, 95%-of-the-time low or mid rise buidling is going to be a glass box, in one form or another, maybe with a curve or two, some vaguely interesting cladding.....

To those on this site who don't understand why some people look longingly at the classical buidlings of London and ask why such architecture cannot be created today, you need only look at developments like this, which is about as impressive as pretty much every other glass box clogging up the planning works these days.

I seem to remember writing words along the lines of "We are truly living in a golden age of architecture" when I first came to this site and saw some of the big projects, but I do laugh at that statement now....golden age my a$$. Souped-up, shiney, glass versions of what was built in the 60's and will be torn down sooner or later with just as little concern.
In this case it's not quite a box, nor is it exactly glass'n'steel, but it is just as shoddy.

I honestly CANNOT believe London still does this. Look around at cities damaged during the war, look up Wroclaw in Poland, how over half their Old Town was destroyed in the war, but they rebuilt it all in immaculate fashion, even in a rather poor country, just after the war! It is now a world heritage site, and yet London, in the 21st century, an enormously prosperous city in a wealthy country, instaed of doing justice to the past and replicating the old architecture that was lost, does THIS SHIT!

Compare this:

http://i202.photobucket.com/albums/aa278/fit3xl/london/uk_london_gaiety.jpg

http://i202.photobucket.com/albums/aa278/fit3xl/london/MarconiHouse1924.jpg
to this:

http://i202.photobucket.com/albums/aa278/fit3xl/london/untitled.jpg
http://i202.photobucket.com/albums/aa278/fit3xl/London334-1.jpg
Look how far we've come..... :ohno:

Exemplified in this one pic:

http://i202.photobucket.com/albums/aa278/fit3xl/London339.jpg
The building on the left, beautiful carvings in the stone, great care taken over it's construction, a dome, not for any particularly useful purpose, but because it looks grande, and gives status and prestige to the building and the city it's in, then the building on the right, cheap, tacky, modern crap, no detail whatsoever.....it's an effing discrace! Beond skyscrapers the modern world, or at least the modern world of the UK, seems totally incapable of producing architecture evenly remotely worthy to stand along side those of the past!

I'm rather dissapointed that they didn't demolish all of the existing building, in real London style! Retaining the facade and giving it a refurb seems totally foreign, as if they actually give a crap about how they want their city to look, which we all know just isn't true!

Unfortunately, having had to work 'with' Westminster planners before, I know that they do aspire to blandness. They have a fairly heavy conservation mentality, which is right and proper, but when asked to accept anything new there attitude is to make it shrink into the background as much as possible - which sadly often equates to mediocre buildings.

I am amazed that EH didn't make more of this too. I wouldn't mind so much but once buildings like this get through, it makes it harder than ever to get contemporary architecture trusted by planners and the public. :bash:

Quite frankly this building makes a mockery of EH and the conservation lobby in general. What we have is an airport hotel in one of the most famous streets in London. All of those people who go on and on about 'traditional' materials should be happy shouldn't they? I actually doubt anyone is happy with this development.

What has Sir Norman had to say about this scheme? - He is usualy quite vocal about the merits of his schemes.

EH is just used as a stick for Westminster to beat down developments beyond its border that threaten its economic base and power more than anything.

reminds me of the washington galleries shopping centre. pure early 70s

Still looks like a horrible holiday inn like building, nasty hotel in the middle of an exclusive and beautiful address. Sometimes i wonder how foster gets away with building such rubbish.

Still looks like a horrible holiday inn like building, nasty hotel in the middle of an exclusive and beautiful address. Sometimes i wonder how foster gets away with building such rubbish

Couldnt agree more.
I was up on top recently and this place just stands out like a sorethumb from its 360 surroundings (in a bad way)
Decent views from the top......but what an uninspiring use of the plot

:ohno:

have they clad this building yet?

It's going on at a painfully slow pace.

yeah its really slow. It looks quite pleasingly solid to me, the windows look good quality. Im suspicious that the outcome is more Westminster influence than Foster per se

Fucking terrible pile of shite...

It takes more vision to have some guts and rebuild what was lost, or install something of equal quality (I doubt they'd get close to the Gaiety though). Bland architecture is too often the result of those wishing to install a building that neither offends or surprises. This building isn't even a comprimise, it's just paint by numbers architecture, and on a bloody prominent junction!

Still it's the same council that allowed most of the Regents Palace hotel to be butchered etc etc so i'm not surprised. Westminster have no vision, and i don't believe they have a love of the past either.

http://i202.photobucket.com/albums/aa278/fit3xl/london/untitled.jpg

Hahahahahahah....:ohno:

I would rather they built a big totally jarring piece of spiky contemporary architecture than the watered down blandness of this building. Id rather the va-va-voom of an assault on the neighbouring juxtapositions than the sleepwalk that is this undetailed concrete repetition of form. Its so nondescript its boring. Its so inoffensive its offensive, and that's not London.

I imagine they couldn't build anything glass here because it is a conservation area.

If anything they should have built the Quinlan Terry building here. Would have kept the tourists happy, if nothing else.

As well as many other factors its the sheer naked functionality of the building, it wears its function on it's staid sleeve. The tower jars most of all because it screams 'circular stairwell for the purpose of ascending the building'. Whether it is or not that is the impression that greets us.

I will have to inspect this building when finished to really see its 'qualities' in context.

Well the first sign of cladding on the Strand side.
Good quality portland stone, a smooth stone for the window edges and a "corkier" (as jimbo might say!) stone for the infill;

http://i202.photobucket.com/albums/aa278/fit3xl/oct023.jpg

http://i202.photobucket.com/albums/aa278/fit3xl/oct024.jpg

The neighbouring Marconi House has a new roof profile;

http://i202.photobucket.com/albums/aa278/fit3xl/oct025.jpg

From alankparish on flickr:

http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3231/3126713506_d5eeaac6d0_b.jpg

and people are up in arms about the tip of Doon Street appearing in the view from the courtyard. The impact here is much worse. I sincerely hope the hotel doesn't have skylights.....god forbid! Argh.

I am utterly confused and bemused by a process that holds up or rejects good design for years and allows damaging dross in promonant sites without so much as a whimper!- For me this is a highly sensitive site - I would have expected the same sort of scrutiny that Potters Fields has had. In some ways it is more sensitive as it was part of a group of co-herent Victorian and Edwardian buildings.

This hasn't progressed since Fitz's last photo in October, perhapes this is a casualty of the global financial woes?

http://i527.photobucket.com/albums/cc360/londonfire/Picture135_600003.jpg

hi,i was working on the site and there was alot of financial issues involved,i think thats why its taking forever to complete!
we just sat in our offices for 2 weeks until it got resolved then eventually pulled off the job incase they tried it again!
that was a year ago and doesnt look like much has changed since.
was a nice job for me but agreedlooks out of place where it is

Can't believe this was Foster ... must have delegated it to some minion/muppet employee who hasn't a clue.

hi,i was working on the site and there was alot of financial issues involved,i think thats why its taking forever to complete!
we just sat in our offices for 2 weeks until it got resolved then eventually pulled off the job incase they tried it again!
that was a year ago and doesnt look like much has changed since.
was a nice job for me but agreedlooks out of place where it is

I'm intrigued, what did they 'try'?

I agree with Jack.. Nearly all British architecture of the last 50 years is a soulless, anti-aesthetic mode of cultural repression.

The juvenile one-upmanship of the feted British architects so evident in the City, Canary Wharf, most British cities, have given us alienating environments in which to live and work.

I'm not against Modern Architecture per se. Just compare Canary Wharf with La Defense in Paris. Why do the French get it so right and we get it so very very wrong? The French authorities seem to care about how architecture impacts the individual as well as society and that enriches the culture (Paris' social housing is another thing though).

London's architecture especially reveals the lack of care for ground space, views, function, and above all - Beauty! The only thing that matters is making money. The glass cages spewing forth all over the place purely fulfil the desire for wealthy corporations to continue getting wealthier at the same time as trying to appear the most modern.

There are exceptions - Foster for example cannot seem to take his ego out of any "design" for his overall body of work, but some of the renovated buildings, British Museum for example, are very well thought out. It's no coincidence that the original buildings in this case were spectacular to begin with.

I'm not sure how the majority of you guys can defend London's modern architecture which most people hate or are indifferent and yet as soon as something gets built in a classic style which is more likely to service and compliment it's environment you attack it for being a pastiche or unmodern.

Just because something's been tried before is no reason to try something completely different.

I'm sure most of you will know of the new glass cage that replaces the Swiss Centre. I had no particular love for that building, but whoever in Westminster Council approved its demolition in favour of something so non-descript has got to be on the take.

I defy anyone to defend this latest blot on the cityscape.

Blandism is the new Brutalism.

Just joined to vent have you? I'd hardly call La Defense better than Canary Wharf. At street level La Defense is no better than 1960s. I don't think the quality of the buildings exceeds the Wharf's either. It takes more than a few curves and a giant arch to make a working urban grain.

Anyway, surely this project must be done now? It seems to be taking an age.

Also its not exactly the fault of the architects. If half of the endless list of cancelled schemes were built, cancelled because of beaurocracy, nimbyism and politics rather than economics and engineering, London would be the finest place on earth aesthetically. As an off-the-top-of-my-head example take Hammersmith and how the council got cold feet and threw out Rogers major plan and instead we got a lump of crap Post Modernism sat in the middle of a roundabout. :ohno:

i personally agree about canary wharf joe. i've always felt it is a repressive and soulless place, it is very much the worst of thatcher's britain all lumped into one - i'm amazed we don't need to apply for visas just to enter it. i've walked around it and people have said to me in all seriousness "look at the quality of the cladding on that building, it looks really good." "it's shit" i think. bland glass blocks everywhere.

you're also spot on about the swiss centre. sure it wasn't an amazing building but it had character and added a spot of quirk to that corner of the square. i don't think we can blame the architects though for the bland piece of glass that's replacing it - the blame should lie at the feet of westminster council. i know of another proposal for leicester square by a leading firm and westminster kept objecting to it in pre application meetings because the roof line was "too exciting" and needed to be more "sensible."

Just joined to vent have you? I'd hardly call La Defense better than Canary Wharf. At street level La Defense is no better than 1960s. I don't think the quality of the buildings exceeds the Wharf's either. It takes more than a few curves and a giant arch to make a working urban grain.

Anyway, surely this project must be done now? It seems to be taking an age.

Im Pretty sure the company developing this have gone bust.

I havent seen any work done on it for ages and I walked past it weekly! I would have thought such high profile hotel scheme in such an area would be lapped up quickly.

i've walked around it and people have said to me in all seriousness "look at the quality of the cladding on that building, it looks really good." "it's shit" i think. bland glass blocks everywhere.


But the quality of the cladding is good. Personally I think the quality of the cladding on One Canda Square and Citigroup exceeds anything in the City and beyond. Bland glass blocks is nothing to do with the quality of the glass, the fitting, the crafting of the fixed panelling but the design of the architecture. Yes, Canary Wharf is a selection of glass blocks, but they are glass blocks that are well built glass blocks.

I don't think anyone who wasn't interested in architecture could tell the difference in styles between CW and La Defence. I never understand why LD is held up in praise.

I like the 3 main towers at CW, Heron Quays is pittyful. I find the whole area facinating for it's unbridled capitalism. I'm not saying I like that, but it makes for a more exciting city - I'm glad it's there even if for some it's just a reminder of what's bad. To me the whole estate is maturing much better than I expected.

But the quality of the cladding is good. Personally I think the quality of the cladding on One Canda Square and Citigroup exceeds anything in the City and beyond. Bland glass blocks is nothing to do with the quality of the glass, the fitting, the crafting of the fixed panelling but the design of the architecture. Yes, Canary Wharf is a selection of glass blocks, but they are glass blocks that are well built glass blocks.

Completely agree. It's like saying that all brick or stone buildings are exactly the same - of course they aren't. And since when was glass a "modern" material? To my knowledge it's been used to a greater or lesser extent in architecture for...ooooh a good few hundred years now.

I don't think anyone who wasn't interested in architecture could tell the difference in styles between CW and La Defence. I never understand why LD is held up in praise.

I like the 3 main towers at CW, Heron Quays is pittyful. I find the whole area facinating for it's unbridled capitalism. I'm not saying I like that, but it makes for a more exciting city - I'm glad it's there even if for some it's just a reminder of what's bad. To me the whole estate is maturing much better than I expected.

I only see several french forumers praising La Defense. In France and in Paris, LD is mostly seen as an outdated urban district "out" of Paris. A lot of people in France associate LD with the big planning mistakes of the 1970s (wether it is true or not) and hate the architecture of the area.

Canary Wharf is aesthetically more pleasing and plush. But LD is much more animated and act as real centre for the western part of Paris urban region.

I also agree with you Gothic, symbolically, CW is really bad.

But the quality of the cladding is good. Personally I think the quality of the cladding on One Canda Square and Citigroup exceeds anything in the City and beyond. Bland glass blocks is nothing to do with the quality of the glass, the fitting, the crafting of the fixed panelling but the design of the architecture. Yes, Canary Wharf is a selection of glass blocks, but they are glass blocks that are well built glass blocks.

Yes but where's the joy? Where's the architectural play? Where's the beauty and soul? Canary Wharf is the physical expression of the values held by those that developed it and work there. Net and Gross, money to be made ahead of beauty. I'm off to hug a tree to console myself... :)

Kind of a curious comparison to draw really between La Defense and Canary Wharf though. They're both pretty soulless places - wouldn't want to live in either. I agree that Canary Wharf tends to have slightly better quality of materials, but when they deployed in such a joyless way it hardly matters. Canary Wharf as a skyline looks great, and it has more life than it did, but the closer you get to it, the more discomforting it is.

CW was made of brick and now it's made of glass. At least it's more accessible than it once was! As for the comparison with LD, it's bit unfair as LD is much bigger. I like the way LD is incorporated in and related to the rest of the city. CW does seem very seperate. But that's London - a selection of diverse districts.

I'm actually surprised by how intimate CW feels considering the bulky buildings and massing. Those squares, green areas and filled docks are nice.

Having spent the best part of 4 years working in CW, I must disagree with some of the negative posts on this site.

As everyone knows the Master Planning for the site was undertaken by a US based firm and the parallels with parts of Chicago (even down to the style of street furniture) are striking. CW is what it is - a money factory based on tried and tested commercial principles. The individual buildings must follow certain requirements to enable the overall scheme to work. It is a private estate built prinicpally with private money after all.

I happen to think that the HSBC tower is one of the best examples of the genre you will find anywhere in the commercial world. The finish is certainly not of the "crap" variety as has been generally suggested as dominating the rest of the estate. And imho the lighting scheme in terms of the overall effect for CW when viewed at a distance is far better than LD.

Rant finished. Time for a beer :cheers:

I don't think anyone who wasn't interested in architecture could tell the difference in styles between CW and La Defence. I never understand why LD is held up in praise.

Don´t know. I think LD sucks compared to CW. Not the buildings, but the overall experience. CW is cleaner, more modern and has all these canals and docks which makes the place far more interesting.

I like the way LD is incorporated in and related to the rest of the city. CW does seem very seperate. But that's London - a selection of diverse districts.

LD is much more animated and act as real centre for the western part of Paris urban region.

Yes. I think CW is crying out for decent links (including pedestrian links) to the (quite run-down) area to the north, and across the river on both sides. Somehow W India Dock Rd / Aspen Way needs to be buried - I think there have been some proposals in this vein. And the pedestrian & cycle bridge across to Rotherhithe, which Boris has cancelled, needs to be revived when the city has a new mayor.

Taken 10 March, looks like it has not progressed at all from the last photo's.
http://img12.imageshack.us/img12/1931/p0903091239.jpg

^^oh right, Aldwych. I hadn't noticed how far off-topid we'd gone...

http://www.architectsjournal.co.uk/news/daily-news/fosters-london-hotel-in-doubt/1996065.article

Foster's London hotel in doubt
27 March, 2009 | By Christopher Sell


A Foster + Partners-designed hotel in central London is to be sold after administrators were called in by the developer’s bank


As reported today the Financial Times, the Spanish company Group Urvasco brought in the practice to design a 170-bed hotel and 90-apartment building on the site of Marconi House, which forms part of the island that sits between the Strand and Aldwych.

Work on the half-finished project has on hold for a number of months. Price Waterhouse Coopers has been brought in by Spanish bank BBVA to assess the project’s viability.

It is the latest set back to befall the architect. On 16 March, the AJ reported that Foster + Partners’ £230 million remodelling of the Camp Nou for Barcelona Football Club is also believed to be delayed indefinitely, as construction slows down across the city and real estate prices fall sharply.

And the FT article;http://www.ft.com/cms/s/0/3f5a635c-1a70-11de-9f91-0000779fd2ac.html


Silken trap - Luxury project at risk
By Roger Blitz

Published: March 27 2009 02:00 | Last updated: March 27 2009 02:00

The half-finished Silken project, one of the most ambitious luxury hotel and residential developments in central London, is heading for sale at a knockdown price after administrators were called in by the developer's banks, writes Roger Blitz. Grupo Urvasco, a Spanish developer and owner of the five-star Silken brand, hired Sir Norman Foster to design a triangular 170-bed hotel, along with 90 apartments, on the former Marconi House, part of the island site that stands between the Strand and Aldwych. However, a series of contractual and financial disputes have plagued the project and work has been halted for some months. PwCs' business recovery team has been brought in by BBVA, the Spanish bank, to assess the project's future. The building, which has a Grade II-listed facade, was the first base of the BBC and was where it aired the first public radio broadcast in 1922. Charlie Bibby
Copyright The Financial Times Limited 2009

Somebodys going to get a bargain.

I would pull it down and start again....

And the FT article;http://www.ft.com/cms/s/0/3f5a635c-1a70-11de-9f91-0000779fd2ac.html

The half-finished Silken project, one of the most ambitious luxury hotel and residential developments in central London, is heading for sale at a knockdown price after administrators were called in by the developer's banks, writes Roger Blitz. Grupo Urvasco, a Spanish developer and owner of the five-star Silken brand, hired Sir Norman Foster to design a triangular 170-bed hotel, along with 90 apartments, on the former Marconi House, part of the island site that stands between the Strand and Aldwych. However, a series of contractual and financial disputes have plagued the project and work has been halted for some months...
Copyright The Financial Times Limited 2009

crunch, crunch, crunch, goes the credit crunch

Interesting watching how these hard times filter through from board room to street level.

London's worst kept secret confirmed.

Luxury hotel development on London's Strand in receivership
16:03 | 22.07.09
propertyweek
By Laura Chesters

A proposed luxury hotel on Strand in London has gone into receivership today.

PricewaterhouseCoopers partners Russell Downs, Barry Gilbertson and Mark Shires have been appointed by Spanish Bank BBVA as joint fixed charge receivers over the Foster & Partners designed 336-337 Strand in London.

The development, which were on the site of the former Marconi Building and later Citibank House, are owned by Urvasco, a subsidiary of the Spanish company Grupo Hotelero Urvasco.

Mark Shires, joint fixed charge receiver and partner at PricewaterhouseCoopers, said: 'Urvasco Limited was formed to progress the development of a 5-star hotel and 79 luxury apartments on the site of a listed building.

'The hotel was intended to be managed by the company under the Silken hotel brand, and the apartments were being developed for sale.'

Work on the site stopped at the end of last year and it is part built.

PricewaterhouseCoopers' specialist real estate and construction partner Barry Gilbertson, said: ‘Our first task is to take stock of the part-built construction, to understand the quality and condition of the structure, which may have deteriorated after being exposed to the weather through last winter.

'Following this, we will carry out significant due diligence to put together a detailed information memorandum for sale.

'It was incorrectly rumoured earlier this year, that the developers had gone into administration, and we were inundated with enquiries from potential purchasers.’

'If the Green shoots of recovery really are pushing up through the streets of tourist London, then we expect that there will be very strong demand to take over this development to build out the hotel, with its stunning marble pyramidal atrium, and the apartments which are in a fantastic location right in the heart of London's theatreland midway between the West End and the City.’

Good news for Hilton. Good news us fans too because they may rethink the design. It would of looked like a cross between a light house and a power station. :)

How on earth are they going to rethink the design with the building mostly built.

We don't know what state the building is in, it may need to be triped back to the frame..

How on earth are they going to rethink the design with the building mostly built.

Well there might be hope for the corner gun emplacement... but otherwise, I doubt they'll do anything other than what they've got planning permission for. :)

I had my first close look at this building last week. Those windows that stick out in a triangular shape on the north side look so cheap and tacky I stood open mouthed at how a piece of crap like this could be built in the Strand. They look like the sort of thing Wimpy homes would do. Why on earth couldn't they have build decent size windows with some elegant type of surround to match the grandeur of the older part?No amount of flash cladding can make up for the fact the basic design is no better than something belonging to a hotel at Heathrow airport. And they have the nerve to say 'grade 11 listed frontage' in the marketing blurb. This has surely got to be one of - certainly not the ugliest - but the tattiest, most unworthy buildings going up in London today. (or not going up!) I'll give it 40 years tops.

Posted by London Lad in the Full Summary Thread;


PWC brings unfinished Marconi hotel to the market

13:33 | 22.10.09

By David Doyle

PricewaterhouseCoopers has brought an unfinished luxury hotel development on the site of the former Marconi building at the Strand to the market.

BBVA, Spain’s second largest bank, put the half finished, Foster & partners designed hotel into administration in July this year.

The property forms the island site at the southern end of the Strand, and was being developed into a 173-bedroom, five-star hotel as well as 79 apartments.

Development has been suspended on the property, which is being marketed as a freehold investment with vacant possession.

PWC real estate partner Barry Gilbertson said: "As rceivers, we are delighted to be able to offer this potential ‘trophy’ asset to a hungry market, starved of good property opportunities.

“Since we were appointed, we have already had more than 140 expressions of interest, so we expect there to be very strong competition, from all around the world, to buy this property which is, after all, in a fabulous location, right in the heart of London".

Cushman & Wakefield has been appointed to sell the property.

I was sitting opposite this two days ago and noticed quite a lot of lights on especially round the top floors, maybe they were showing round potential buyers?

Stalled Foster hotel to restart
04 December 2009

By Emily Wright

Construction work on the stalled Silken hotel in London, designed by Foster + Partners, is expected to restart in January after bank BBVA decided to develop the scheme rather than sell it

The decision came after the bank received 150 expressions of interest from potential buyers thought to include investors, developers and hotel operators from Asia and Russia.

A source close to the scheme said none of the offers was high enough; the half-finished site on Aldwych was thought to be on the market for at least £110m and was put up for sale in October.

The project was put into administration in July by main creditor BBVA and Pricewaterhouse Coopers was appointed as receiver after developer Urvasco ran into financial difficulty.

Another source close to the scheme said: “We have been told the job is scheduled to restart in early January.”

“Last week the entire supply chain was told it would remain on the scheme”

Source close to project


It is not clear at this stage whether main contractor Cantillon will remain on the scheme. But one source said the project’s Spanish QS, IDOM, would take on a project management role to ensure it did not run into more difficulties.

The source added: “Last week the entire supply chain was told it would remain on the scheme, including Foster + Partners.”

It is understood there are still about £4m of payments outstanding to the supply chain and that these will be repaid. The target completion date is December 2010.

The high level of interest in the UK hotel sector from abroad comes a month after Travelodge announced it would invest £47m opening 10 new hotels in 2010, in cities including London, Edinburgh and Manchester. The Intercontinental Hotel Group is also investing £600m in updating 3,200 Holiday Inns worldwide.



Read more: http://www.building.co.uk/story.asp?storycode=3154398&origin=bldgweeklynewsletter#ixzz0YizGdsIa

Picture taken in March 2009:

http://img38.imageshack.us/img38/3424/silkenhotelaldwychinprov.jpg

"Designed by Foster and partners" ... He really should hang his head in shame. I can't believe his hands (or brain) were anywhere near this project :ohno:
If anywhere in London deserves an iconic design this is it. The location could only be described as Prime.

"Designed by Foster and partners" ... He really should hang his head in shame. I can't believe his hands (or brain) were anywhere near this project :ohno:
If anywhere in London deserves an iconic design this is it. The location could only be described as Prime.
Yes, I totally agree Border lad! This only proves that we shouldn't put starchitects on a pedestal since they can still produce crap. Just because a famous name is attached to a project, we shouldn't give them a free pass.

I'm not so worried about the side elevations, but the central corner tower is dire, particularly in its two bay design featuring bland punched windows and lack of articulation at ground floor and roof level, the latter of which lacks a crowning element. If this tower part of the design could be reconsidered, this may go far to address the aesthetic architectural design issues of the building without involving too much demolition.

Four months after the last post, and still no sign of building work on the site. I work in the Courtauld Institute of Art in Somerset House, right across the street from the site, and it is an embarrassing eyesore. I agree with most of the posts above that the building as planned looked pretty dreadful, and a really bad mark for the Foster team, but anything would be better than the current third-world shell. :ohno:

I'd like to see another developer step in and appoint Quinlan Terry to rescue the project aesthetically as well as commercially.

I'd like to see another developer step in and appoint Quinlan Terry to rescue the project aesthetically as well as commercially.
I agree. Quinlan Terry would be perfect for this sensitive location.

I don't mind Foster's design per se, but I just don't like the windows on the sides.

I agree. Quinlan Terry would be perfect for this sensitive location.

I don't mind Foster's design per se, but I just don't like the windows on the sides.

Damn a mr windup post I almost agree with.

My bone of contention with this proposal however has always been the rotunda treatment on the corner, i don't know why but even in the renders it never seemed convincing.

Any chance of seeing the hotel completed by 2030?:lol:

I'm normally quick to defend Mr Terry, but in this case I'm not sure I see how bringing him in at this stage would help. It's too bad the design isn't a better one, but it's already mostly built - surely the important thing here is to get new investors in and get the thing finished.

Um, are they talking about the Silken Hotel?

HOTEL FIRM BUYS NEW NORMAN FOSTER BUILDING


Sol Meliá has announced the acquisition from Anida of the City Bank building in London, redesigned as a cutting-edge contemporary hotel by Norman Foster.

The hotel is in the final stage of construction and is located in the tourist and business heart of London, next to Covent Garden and Trafalgar Square, in the district of Holborn. The building has 10 room floors and four underground floors and occupies a triangular piece of land which was previously the site of the famous "Casa Marconi" and the City Bank building.

The hotel will provide 173 rooms in four different categories and its strategic location and characteristics - it will also offer a 730 m2 Convention Centre and spectacular restaurants and bars - will make the future ME London Hotel an icon of the London hotel industry for both business and leisure travellers.

The ME London is expected to open in 2012 and will become the second hotel for the Sol Meliá chain in the British capital, joining the Meliá White House, located next to Regent's Park and which has enjoyed a decade of uninterrupted success. The acquisition has been made for 133 million euros and Sol Meliá will take over responsibility for finalising construction and equipping the hotel, estimated in 52 million euros.

Vice Chairman and CEO of Sol Meliá, Gabriel Escarrer Jaume, said: "This deal brings the addition of a strategic asset in a key destination, and also positions the brand in one of the most important feeder markets in the world travel industry."

Sol Meliá is confident that the ME London will further raise its brand awareness and reputation in international markets. Designed to be integrated like the other ME brand hotels within the fabric of city life, the Foster-designed hotel will have 2 destination restaurants and bars at ground level, a "The Level" floor, and a lounge providing an extraordinary setting for leisure and business travellers, astonishing urban views and distribution of internal spaces.

Built in line with the most rigorous standards, the ME London hotel is scheduled to open in 2012 with "Biosphere Hotel" certification, a social and environmental hallmark already granted to the ME Madrid, ME Cancun and ME Barcelona" hotels of the same brand.
www.solmelia.com

Yes

The hotel will provide 173 rooms in four different categories and its strategic location and characteristics - it will also offer a 730 m2 Convention Centre and spectacular restaurants and bars - will make the future ME London Hotel an icon of the London hotel industry for both business and leisure travellers.

Good news, well not an exciting building but its not great having something so prominent sit empty.

A convention centre is new for this I believe. The old plans had luxury apartments as well, which seem to have been dropped.

I noticed yeaterday driving past that the hoardings now say "Galliard" never noticed that beffore?

http://www.me-by-melia.com/ is their website, they seem to be rather tasteful hoteliers.

http://www.me-by-melia.com/ is their website, they seem to be rather tasteful hoteliers.

:eek::naughty::ohno:

Went past the site on Wednesday, the site is fully operational, crawling with construction workers, with te crane at work too.

What's up with that one guys? Please, don't tell me it's still on hold, I won't beleive you...:ohno:

er, is this the one that's currently on fire (http://www.guardian.co.uk/uk/2011/jun/14/building-fire-london-west-end)?

suspicious!

suspicious!

More likely carelessness on site I would say. Galliard home have practically sold all the apartments and work was progressing on the hotel with a new owner so no need for a convenient ‘insurance claim’

I thought it may be this one when i saw the news earlier.

http://a.yfrog.com/img616/7678/tyxng.jpg

http://web.me.com/benveasey/_MG_2690.JPG

http://web.me.com/benveasey/_MG_2630.JPG

http://web.me.com/benveasey/_MG_2646.JPG

http://web.me.com/benveasey/_MG_2601.JPG

http://web.me.com/benveasey/_MG_2685.JPG

http://web.me.com/benveasey/_MG_2680.JPG

http://web.me.com/benveasey/_MG_2675.JPG

http://web.me.com/benveasey/_MG_2659.JPG

http://web.me.com/benveasey/_MG_2657.JPG

http://web.me.com/benveasey/_MG_2582.JPG

http://web.me.com/benveasey/_MG_2581.JPG

http://web.me.com/benveasey/_MG_2635.JPG

love the detail of the pics chest, really emphasises the hubbub of the incident!

Chest. I don't know if you done some post production on the 3rd to last photo but it's brilliant.

Good news! This is no longer on hold. I went past the site today and there were hundreds of construction workers gathered for a briefing plus a massive articulated truck piled high with portland stone. I chatted with a couple of the construction workers and the driver who had delivered the stone cladding. :)

Good news! This is no longer on hold. I went past the site today and there were hundreds of construction workers gathered for a briefing plus a massive articulated truck piled high with portland stone. I chatted with a couple of the construction workers and the driver who had delivered the stone cladding. :)

That's great to hear, it's been an embarrassment on the edge of the West End for so long. It's in such a prestigious location and it's looked awful with the insulation breaking down and just looking like a slum. The fire of course only added to the woes, so let's hope it will be a gleaming part of London's Glittering West End soon.

^ Guys i did post on the 29th Jan that this site was active.

^ Guys i did post on the 29th Jan that this site was active.


Yeah it was nearly finished when they had that fire. Pay more attention people ;)

What caused that fire?

Crane coming down this weekend and smaller one placed on the roof. Ainscoughs finest out in force

http://farm7.static.flickr.com/6206/6113349005_8935fc9e92_b.jpg

http://farm7.static.flickr.com/6194/6113667648_807ede4111_b.jpg

http://farm7.static.flickr.com/6086/6113214557_aae0d2f03e_b.jpg

Hosted http://www.flickr.com/photos/russmacca/6113214557/

OMFG, work seems to be resuming! :omg:

That's good news, cheers nrm the 2nd for your pics ;).

Which cranes coming down the White one or the red HTC one?

The white one

I walked past this today and it is covered in scaffold and cranes working away. Loads of people on site.

yep, I walked past here on Wednesday (8/12), no idea what they were up to, but there were loads of people on site working away at something.

Just went past, lots of workers on site, and some road works by the junction.

Though it might be worth bumping this thread as I went past the other day and the exterior looks to be nearing completion. I have to say the quality of materials - especially the portland stone and build quality do shine through to help lift it from the dire monster I was expecting. Perhaps someone could post a photo?

BTW most of the top end of The Strand was covered in sheeting - I hope for cleaning and not demolition - anyone know what is going on there?

it's a 'Me hotel' now, looks very nice inside http://www.fosterandpartners.com/projects/1301/Default.aspx

Though it might be worth bumping this thread as I went past the other day and the exterior looks to be nearing completion. I have to say the quality of materials - especially the portland stone and build quality do shine through to help lift it from the dire monster I was expecting. Perhaps someone could post a photo?

BTW most of the top end of The Strand was covered in sheeting - I hope for cleaning and not demolition - anyone know what is going on there?

That reminds me. :yes:

http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7177/7054831799_083be21cb9_c.jpg (http://www.flickr.com/photos/78247568@N08/7054831799/)
RDSCF0606 (http://www.flickr.com/photos/78247568@N08/7054831799/) by Constant Invader (http://www.flickr.com/people/78247568@N08/), on Flickr

http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7254/7054832049_49fc386fee_c.jpg (http://www.flickr.com/photos/78247568@N08/7054832049/)
RDSCF0607 (http://www.flickr.com/photos/78247568@N08/7054832049/) by Constant Invader (http://www.flickr.com/people/78247568@N08/), on Flickr

Taken 6 weeks ago.

Looks pretty finished:

http://farm6.staticflickr.com/5444/7183166022_0203984b9d_b.jpg

mmm clean-lines, art-deco/classical and contemporary touches, very contextual - I like it

I really like it as well, very uplifting and classy... If only more new developments were like this.

Thank goodness they went with some decent cladding, there was a very real chance that this building could have been a disaster. Thankfully it's been narrowly avoided.

Yes thank goodness the cladding is of good quality. I still find the overall design rather bland and the view from Strand of the corner is very underwhelming.

I think it is fine. It has good quality materials however the fact it abuts a building with the same material which is classically detailed makes it look like a bland extension.

Just about finished now

http://i179.photobucket.com/albums/w314/concretelover/GG001.jpg

I like it!

although those rooms on the Strand side wont get much of a view with those trees

A bit bland, some art deco detailing would have provided more interest at little cost or manual skill and would have complimented the entertainment district theme :( I always think art deco would be a cheap and classic style but don't see much these days.

I don't mind it but think it addresses the corner without much interest. The good thing about art deco is that applied sculpture into the facades for detail, unfortunately because this is against the modernist agenda at Fosters we have the only bit of fun at the top with a prism of faceted glass.

^^^ definitely a modernist feel overall (almost sci-fi!), but with classical and art-deco touches - its neither a pastiche nor an unsympathetic modernist box - a success methinks!

That's quite disappointing. I quite like the facade along the aldwych - so glad they didn't just cop out with a load of glazing - but the corner design is poor, especially the blandness of the corner tower and the truncated treatment at the top. No.1 Aldwych across the road makes far better use of its prominent corner.

I hope at least there'll be a nice cocktail bar at the top to look out of, from where I can enjoy the view of the better buildings in the area.

I think I may have been the first to flag up this scheme on the forum, some yeras ago. I did so with a sense of impending disaster. I compared it to aa airport hotel. I have to say that my fears have been alayed. The finish and the materials are of the highest standard and overall the building, for me is a reasonable addition to the area. I even like the Aldwich facade. However I have to agree that the corner 'tower' is it's weakest element - a lost opportumity to make something with real dramatic impact at the end of the Strand.

That's quite disappointing. I quite like the facade along the aldwych - so glad they didn't just cop out with a load of glazing - but the corner design is poor, especially the blandness of the corner tower and the truncated treatment at the top. No.1 Aldwych across the road makes far better use of its prominent corner.

I hope at least there'll be a nice cocktail bar at the top to look out of, from where I can enjoy the view of the better buildings in the area.



You will be glad to know it has although you will have to look rather smart.
http://www.melia.com/hotels/united-kingdom/london/me-london/restaurants.htm


Incidentally the newish Corinthia Hotel also has swanky roof top terraces.

Why is the status of this building in the thread title 'on hold'?

You will be glad to know it has although you will have to look rather smart.
http://www.melia.com/hotels/united-kingdom/london/me-london/restaurants.htm


Incidentally the newish Corinthia Hotel also has swanky roof top terraces.

Excellent! I feel a new thread coming on...

I know Medo, change the bloody title. :ohno:

Ah so work on the road junction has finished too. Would have liked a bit more ornamental detailing, but as it stands the building isn't too bad.

It's both sober & classy, I like it.

Glad it's finally completed, it's been such a long & fastidious journey...

The information is very interesting. It is new knowledge for me.

This is finished now and can be moved to the completed folder.

http://d2p65vgzoeytng.cloudfront.net/img/hoteles/6328/01me-london-general1.jpg

http://d2p65vgzoeytng.cloudfront.net/img/hoteles/6328/02me-london-generalnight1.jpg

http://d2p65vgzoeytng.cloudfront.net/img/hoteles/6328/14ame-london-passionsuite.jpg

http://d2p65vgzoeytng.cloudfront.net/img/hoteles/6328/16gme-london-me-suitelivingrooma.jpg


The rooftop Radio Bar at the new ME London hotel (a new brand of Melia Hotels). Designed by Norman Foster both inside and out.

http://media.solmelia.com/webs/3201/img/london-radiorooftopterrace2.jpg

http://d2p65vgzoeytng.cloudfront.net/img/hoteles/6328/27ame-london-radiorooftopterrace.jpg

http://d2p65vgzoeytng.cloudfront.net/img/hoteles/6328/27bme-london-radiorooftopterrace.jpg

http://d2p65vgzoeytng.cloudfront.net/img/hoteles/6328/27dme-london-radiorooftopterrace.jpg

http://d2p65vgzoeytng.cloudfront.net/img/hoteles/6328/27eme-london-radiorooftopterrace.jpg

http://d2p65vgzoeytng.cloudfront.net/img/hoteles/6328/27cme-london-radiorooftopterrace.jpg

http://d2p65vgzoeytng.cloudfront.net/img/hoteles/6328/26cme-london-radiorooftop.jpg

It's both sober & classy, I like it.

Glad it's finally completed, it's been such a long & fastidious journey...

I went to the ground floor bar the other day. Friendly staff and quite swanky inside, but not what you'd call comfortable...

Comfortable?? this isn't a cottage in the Lake District - and when you get upstairs to the bar/lounges they are fantastic.

Well at around £390 a night for a double room you would expect some swank. It looks very arty but I do wonder at all these open roof terraces in London (Heron for example). London doesn’t have a Mediterranean climate so outside comfort would be restricted to about 3 months only in the year. But I suppose it makes a good selling point.

Well at around £390 a night for a double room you would expect some swank. It looks very arty but I do wonder at all these open roof terraces in London (Heron for example). London doesn’t have a Mediterranean climate so outside comfort would be restricted to about 3 months only in the year. But I suppose it makes a good selling point.

Put some outdoor heaters out there and you can extend that to 7-9 months of the year.

Well it looks well fitted out to me, and it looks comfortable. (Goodness knows why one shouldn't expect anything other than supreme comfort for the prices they're going to charge!)

Needless to say I'll waft up there one day in 2 or 3 years when it's no longer the new place in town.

The corner turret glass thing is a an architectural missed opportunity - ruins the pretensions that the rest of the building tries to carry. Oh well.

Put some outdoor heaters out there and you can extend that to 7-9 months of the year.

It's not just heating they need. Given the fact it rained for about 360 days last year I can't believe they have fabric seating on a roof without what appears to be any kind of rain canopy. Heavens, they will be dragging this lot in most nights if last year is anything to go by!

It's not just heating they need. Given the fact it rained for about 360 days last year I can't believe they have fabric seating on a roof without what appears to be any kind of rain canopy. Heavens, they will be dragging this lot in most nights if last year is anything to go by!

2012 was the 2nd wettest year on record in the UK (records go back over 100 years). We'd be unlucky to get that too often.

Warmer climate means warmer seas, warmer seas means more rain. It could conceivably get much, much worse than that.

Warmer climate means warmer seas, warmer seas means more rain. It could conceivably get much, much worse than that.

Yes, but it's not as simple as that for such a small area of the Earth's surface, the UK. The wet weather in 2012 was due to the jet stream being further south than normal for a prolonged period of time, particularly in late Spring and the Summer. Instead of being to the north of us, it was directly over us during this period. The jet stream steers rain bearing weather systems off the Atlantic in our direction. The previous 12-18 months before last Spring was much drier than normal, hence the hosepipe bans this time last year.

Interesting graphs of Bewl Water reservoir levels in recent years:

http://www.southernwater.co.uk/images/content/at-home-images/your-water-images/water-resources-images/reservoir-levels-images/BewlLevel.jpg

Only a year ago, the reservoir was the lowest it had ever been at the end of a winter period - just at a time when it should be at its most full.

Then they announced a drought.

Then it didn't stop raining for a year... Hahaha