Liverpool dockside’s newest luxury hotel has brought 21st century chic to a traditional Victorian maritime setting and Crittall Windows make an important contribution to this impressive transformation.
The Titanic Hotel is part of the redevelopment of the historic Stanley Dock complex of warehouses. It is located in what was originally known as the North Warehouse, built between 1846 and 1854. The building was badly damaged during a World War Two bombing raid and lay derelict for many years. Nevertheless, the value of the site in historic and architectural terms was recognised when the Liverpool Docks became a UNESCO World Heritage Site and the old North Warehouse, along with other buildings, was listed Grade II.
Fast forward to 2010 when Stanley Dock Properties Ltd engaged Dublin-based Darmody Architects to draw up a masterplan for the entire site. Working closely with Liverpool City Council planners the architects conceived an ambitious regeneration plan, phase I of which was the transformation of the old North Warehouse into the 153-bedroom hotel with the adjacent Rum Warehouse – a building of 1950s vintage – converted into an exhibition space.
Darmody’s conversion has retained many of the original brick and iron features in the spacious North Warehouse so as to reflect the buildings, and the overall sites, industrial maritime heritage. This is where the specification of Crittall’s Corporate W20 windows designed to fill existing bowed-top openings, fitted the bill precisely.
The £36million 4-star Titanic Hotel project has maximised the warehouse’s generous dimensions. Bedrooms measure 55 square metres on average, around twice the size of a standard hotel room, earning the building, in the words of one reviewer, its description as ‘a boutique hotel of Titanic proportions.’ The theme is also emphasised by the fact that, on entering the hotel, visitors can ascend a faithful replica of the ill-fated RMS Titanic’s grand staircase.
Through their attractive Crittall windows, with their slim profile maximising the natural daylight entering the rooms, guests are also treated to magnificent views across Stanley Dock to the Tobacco Warehouse opposite and on to the Mersey Estuary.
The hotel has definitely become an important component of one of Liverpool’s most impressive must-visit destinations.
www.crittall-windows.co.uk
