Premier Inn New Marlborough Yard
Blending with the Village Context
Located between Waterloo Station and Tate Modern, in the heart of the London Borough of Southwark, this 274-key new build hotel lies between the busy Cut with its shops, restaurants, bars and cultural entertainment and the quiet residential area of Ufford Street.
Our design took careful account of the context of the new hotel, bringing some of the Cut’s liveliness into the public realm to the north, while grouping the quieter sleeping accommodation closest to the residential area.
The two separate blocks of accommodation are connected via an elegant light weight glazed bridge link.
Our design creates generous living spaces that are flooded with natural light and offer surprising spatial relationships between the inside and the outside.
On behalf of client Frogmore, and in collaboration with Whitbread, we were able to include a new public park and courtyard for the community to enjoy, as part of the development. A public route between the blocks (the re-instatement of the lost Marlborough Street) leads through to a verdant pocket park and New Marlborough Yard, designed in the spirit of other ‘discoverable’ courtyard spaces such as Ham Yard, St Christopher’s Place and Shepherd Market.
The pocket park incorporates seating, sculpture and abundant planting to offer respite and a sense of place within the hubbub of city life. Native and ornamental plants foster biodiversity throughout the scheme and a mosaic of wildflower and sedum green roofs provide a habitat for wildlife.
The 9800 sq. ft development includes a Bar + Block restaurant on the ground floor which welcomes the local community and hotel guests, and generates an active frontage along the pathway, with an al fresco dining area spilling informally from the interior into the courtyard.
Our design reinterprets local materials and characteristics into an under-stated, contemporary piece of quality architecture. Three colours, textures and tones of brickwork (glazed green, yellow London stock and pale white matt) reflect the local Victorian industrial vernacular and public houses and give a light, delicate façade. A repetition of bay elements creating a structure and vertical rhythm. Perforated metal panels and detailing provide a subtle industrial reference.
New Marlborough Yard is a scheme which challenges perceptions about what branded budget hotels like Premier Inn look like and contribute in central London.
Awards and nominations
- Client
- Frogmore
- Location
- London, United Kingdom
- Status
- Completed 2020
- Uses
- Hotel
- Size
- 274 keys
- Creds
- BREEAM Excellent
- Photos
- Whitbread