Ladywood House | New St Station | 9 Floors | Refurb | Prop

[sefton66]

Thought this was worthy of its own thread

New app gone in today for Ladywood House, and we have an occupier to!

Application Details
Application Number 2012/00758/PA
Application Type Full Planning
Site Address Ladywood House 45 Stephenson Street Birmingham B2 4DH
Proposal Change of use from offices (B1) to form a 364 bed hotel (C1) and external alterations

Occupier will be Motel One, Looks like it will be their first Hotel outside Germany

http://www.motel-one.com/uk/index.html

Some renders
image hosted on flickr

1 by sefton 66, on Flickr

image hosted on flickr

2 by sefton 66, on Flickr

and cladding details
image hosted on flickr

4 by sefton 66, on Flickr

[Erebus555]

It's got a Soviet swagger about it... I really don't know what to make of it...

I was kind of hoping the side overlooking the station itself would be a bit more interesting so it would be eye catching when looking up through the station roof.

[djay]

This is what annoys me, we have a new station, and the two buildings designed to sit on top bare no relation or respect to the station design

[-Stiggy-]

What the actual hell??!! That looks awful compared to what Associated Architects came up with. A massive step back and dissapointment compared to the Network Rail application from December which sat better with the new station and generally looked far more upmarket.

[daumal]

Originally Posted by djay

This is what annoys me, we have a new station, and the two buildings designed to sit on top bare no relation or respect to the station design

I agree, at least in relation to this one. Seems very odd to spend the best part of a billion pounds on the station and cut costs by not getting rid of Ladywood House, or replacing it with something more in keeping with the design. Personally I'd have got rid of this, levelled the HSBC building and the ramp then put a grand entrance on New Street with an office/hotel block above that, similar to the original idea with the two towers at the other end.

If they hadn't needed the space below it they'd probably have put more glass on Stephenson Tower and turned it into a Travelodge.

[woodhousen]

i actually really quite like it.. especially if there is a decent lighting scheme involved!

[ReissOmari]

I like it, dont like the name thiugh, sounds very cheap. Is it a well known brand also?

[sefton66]

I quite like it too, its not too loud and in your face but keeps separate to the station. I think the mixture of different colours of cladding will be a good effect, reminds me of the cladding for the fire station tower, wonder if this will have the same effect of looking different colours depending on the light on it/angle viewed from

[ReissOmari]

Originally Posted by sefton66

Occupier will be Motel One, Looks like it will be their first Hotel outside Germany

http://www.motel-one.com/uk/index.html

Just had a look on their website, I absolutely love the colour scheme they have! Also it'll be their first hotel in England as one opened recently in Edinburgh. The quality of the hotels look top, we could have another Hotel La Tour here!

EDIT: They're opening one in Edinburgh, my mistake.

[Spread]

I find the palette a little too similar to the cube

[sefton66]

ahh didn't notice the Edinburgh one due to open!

for those wanting to look at the brand this is a video of some shots from their hotels

http://www.motel-one.com/uk/motel-on...pressions.html

[flange]

Motel One are rapidly expanding in the UK, there is one apparently being planned for London, along with a Motel One planned for Manchester which was announced last week.



Hodder unveils Motel One plans for Piccadilly

[PSS1980]

....UUUm thi is growing on me both in design and brand after looking at the opica afew tuimes and then watching the MOtel One video its look quite a classy brand...

At 360 odd rooms will this be one of the biggest hotels in Brum ?...and anyone wish to guess will this be a 3 or 4 star...

[Myster E]

At first it reminded me of the Hill St Exchange monstrosity, but I do like it for some odd reason, it's growing on me!

[hammerb24]

If it turns out anything like the renders this could be a lesson in how to polish a turd, thumbs up from me.

The more quality and innovative hotel brands like this enter the Brum scene the more pressure I hope it will assert on the likes of Britannia, who have succeded in giving us a lesson how to turn a polished building into a turd.

[JayPeeDee]

Originally Posted by PSS1980

....UUUm thi is growing on me both in design and brand after looking at the opica afew tuimes and then watching the MOtel One video its look quite a classy brand...

At 360 odd rooms will this be one of the biggest hotels in Brum ?...and anyone wish to guess will this be a 3 or 4 star...

Mmm. Looks very much like a 3-star to me.

The video looks quite cheap and doesn't actually show any guests at all, just lots of staff and empty bars.. Ominous!!

I think this is an opportunity missed, a very prominent location turned into a drab, run-of-the-mill hotel...

[woodhousen]

really??? lets be honest here... its above a shopping centre and a train station... and not in the way that 19th century hotels where built next to stations... this was never going to be a 4 star/high end hotel... its size and location works against that

im happy with a good decent hotel ke this!!!

[JayPeeDee]

Just because it's above a train station doesn't mean it can be excused for being a bit rubbish. I would love a bit of 'La Tour' class but fear it's going to end up with a cheap spruce-up that'll start to look shabby after a couple of years. Doesn't do it for me, prefer the Manc version, bit more textual instead of a flat grey/brown box. Would expect this kind of thing in Leeds, not Brum...

[woodhousen]

who said this proposal was anything but rubbish.... hamptons on broad street is rubbish... this looks like a high quality refurb, and is something im very happy with. the fenestration looks good, the cladd is great, and given the fact this is a 'slab' building, i think theyve made it look delightful!

gets my thumbs up!

[Ecological]

Quite like it.

And rather big too with 360 rooms.

Does anyone know how many hotel rooms are being created at the moment within the city?