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• Focus 11: Access Great Design
• Sleep Event, London: 24-25 November 2010
• REBEC: 21-22 June 2010
• Hospitality Architecture + Design Conference: Macau, June 2010
• Visit to Belgrade: 2-3 June 2010

Sleep Event, London

24-25 November 2010

Managing Director, Conrad Smith was invited to participate in a panel discussion about the restoration of The Savoy hotel at the Sleep Event conference 2010. This event is the only one of its kind in Europe and focuses entirely on the design, architecture and development of hotels. Encompassing a design-led exhibition, a high-level conference and an acclaimed awards scheme, in 2010 the exhibition attracted just under 3,000 visitors from across Europe as well as from the Middle East and the Americas who were keen to see the latest products for hotels and to learn from the seminar speakers.

Entitled "Reinstating and Reinventing an Icon", the Savoy conference panel comprised members of the project team sitting together to share their reflections of the experience. Under questioning from the moderator, Andrew Sangster from Hotel Analyst, Conrad Smith, Pierre-Yves Rochon, the interior designer, and Kiaran MacDonald, the hotel's general manager, explained how the restoration of The Savoy had been the most ambitious project of its kind ever undertaken in London. According to Conrad, "Virtually every square inch of the Savoy is imbued with historical association; it is the stuff of legend and we were very conscious of acting as custodians of this while creating a hotel for the 21st Century."

The primary question posed by Sangster was how it came to be that the project doubled in size as well as cost. Conrad explained that when The Savoy closed for renovation in 2007, the scope of the initial brief given to ReardonSmith was to bring the riverfront suites into the 21st Century by enlarging their bathrooms. However, this led to further briefs to stabilise the riverfront façade, add a new lift, and work on other aspects that were found when the building was stripped back. He went on to explain that what began as a relatively straightforward project evolved into something much more, so the team took the time required to get it exactly right. After all, when a building is over 100 years old, numerous issues must be dealt with once the layers are revealed. Conrad emphasised that the reverence and preservation of the building was of the highest priority.

During the discussion, the panel also elaborated on the particular challenges that accompanied the renovation of this legendary hotel. The stabilisation of the building was a major riddle for the team to solve. Conrad informed the audience that when The Savoy was extended in 1911 to provide London's first ensuite guestrooms, a new façade was built on the riverside. This had no foundations but, instead, in a great feat of engineering for the early 20th Century, the entire wall was suspended from huge trusses which some 90 years later were beginning to show their age. Therefore, using a 21st Century feat of engineering, the load bearing masonry, including redundant chimney breasts, was removed from the riverfront suites and replaced with a new steel structure. Kiaran MacDonald concurred that the result, which allows the suites to have more spacious, re-organised bathrooms, is a complete success.

Pierre-Yves Rochon and Conrad also confirmed that another significant challenge was the fact that each guestroom was different – all 267 of them – in terms of size and shape. Therefore, they needed to assess room-by-room which features and fittings could be saved, restored and returned, and then those features that would require clever replication. All the details of every room had to be rigorously documented before they could be stripped back and re-planned.

In conclusion, the panel agreed that the outcome is a beautiful building that not only preserves the dignity of an iconic grande dame but also meets the requirements for a state-of-the art 21st Century hotel. Conrad summed up the experience, stating, "She was a very special old lady but, as you might expect, once you start ruffling her petticoats, you uncover a lot of her hidden past, both good and bad. As a result, and because the decision was taken to substantially increase the extent of works, the scale of the project doubled in size. This means that the team has had the opportunity to achieve what was needed and the hotel we have returned is one of the finest in the world, now equipped for another great era."