So Glad
If Ada Louise Huxtable said you’re good, you’re good. She was the American queen of architectural criticism (died in 2013). The visual counterpart to her literary excellence was Deborah Turbeville the American monarch of the camera (died in 2013). United States creative royalty. “The high priest of High Tech” is how she described Norman Foster (still going strong aged 90) in On Architecture, 2008. The first architecture critic of The New York Times (reigned supreme from 1963 to 1981), Ada was blessed with good looks and a way with words: “The English architect Norman Foster is a master of fine tuned exquisitely honed minimal technology. In his choice of materials and structure he uses, with remarkable eloquence, a fastidious aesthetic that derives from engineering but quietly makes it clear to the viewer (as with the 1991 exhibition rooms of the Royal Academy of Arts in London) that a series of highly intelligent choices has been made.”
Hilton Hotel Heathrow looks like it was designed by Norman Foster. It wasn’t. It’s unknown if Ada critiqued Michael Manser Associates but if she had it may well have been along the lines that they are the high priest acolytes of High Tech. Completed in 1990, the hotel (formerly known as the Sterling) gets a mention in Flying in the Face of Mediocrity, an article scribed by Alan Powers for the 28 February 1991 edition of Country Life. He applauds how the transparency of High Tech architecture recaptures the romance of travel. The hotel gets a mostly positive reception:
“The question of the traveller’s psychology in relation to buildings comes into play with the recently completed Sterling Hotel by Michael Manser Associates, linked to Terminal 4 at Heathrow. The architectural and planning record of Heathrow is not distinguished, and the hotel occupies an awkward pocket of land in the crook of a spur road. Its dazzling whiteness is impressive, and one immediately reads the skewed plan, with a full height atrium between two banks of hotel rooms. The detailing is High Tech rather than the Miesian style associated with this firm. Interesting effects of shadow and light are achieved with the cutaway end façades, but the whiteness is too insistent, and the way the skew is carried through the plan too diagrammatic and unrelieved. The result is that the sitting spaces feel overexposed in a great hotel ‘landschaft’, and one of the major functions of such a building – to calm and reassure the stopover traveller and provide a human scale in relation to journeys of thousands of miles – seems to be lost.”
Over to the architects, “The requirement was for a four star four hundred bedroom hotel on the south side of Heathrow Airport adjacent to Terminal 4. Our client specifically wanted a landmark building on a tight budget. A very clear spatial and organisational brief from the client allowed us to produce an extremely efficient plan where two blocks of bedrooms flanked a large atrium within which were all the public areas. The hotel was designed, built and opened in 27 months, including the planning process. The hotel was the first in the UK planned around a central atrium, was the first to use cement particle board for partitioning and developed an entirely bespoke but economic external cladding system. The huge atrium, with extensive views east and west creates a dramatic effect. The arrival at the hotel certainly sparks a level of theatre and drama not normally seen at airport hotels.”
Moving on, central lounge as airport hangar, a spectacular solid plane to glass expanse ratio, making a virtue out of fire escapes as elegant as Art deco diving pool spiral staircases, the Heathrow Hilton Hotel is a bold statement aging well. That’s the thing about architecture ahead of its time: four decades later it looks contemporary. There’s been a recent atrium refurb by Hirsch Bedner Associates. Associate Director and project lead Matteo Pace states, “All too often airport hotels lack character and imagination, so we were thrilled that Hilton were open to us being creative, allowing us to design a welcoming space that is connected to nature. Located at one of Europe’s busiest airports, the public spaces at the Hilton need to cater to all guests. Be it leisure or corporate visitors, we wanted to create somewhere that they can really enjoy and that enhances their travel experience through inspiring, thoughtful design.” A sculptured chandelier radiating over reception and wooden walls echoing “the undulating British landscapes” are resultant highlights.
What’s it like to stay in these days? Well there’s a catwalk straight from the hotel to Terminal 4 Departures. A Planet Burger (plant based patty, tomato chutney, gem lettuce, smoked Applewood, red onion, pickles, potato bun, plant mayo, fries) in the atrium restaurant is a good distraction from onward destinations. As is the gaggle of gorgeous Emirates airhostesses gathering in reception. The diamond shaped plan means the atrium is sandwiched between two cliffs of sleeping accommodation. A backlit pixelated map of Europe takes the place of meaningless art in each guest room. Crabtree and Evelyn toiletries encircle a Porcelanosa teardrop basin in the en suite bathrooms. A triangular wedge of precious green and blue outdoor space is attached to the rear of the hotel offering fresh produce. Ada Louise Huxtable would approve: to her sustainability was always more than just design.
