Blogs
Hotel La Tour Birmingham - Site visit
I was treated to a ‘hard hat’ showround of the new Hotel La Tour in Birmingham yesterday. Hotel La Tour is a new four star hotel opening end of March in central Birmingham. The name ‘Hotel La Tour’ in art-deco style lettering had just been attached to the outside of the glass clad, wedge -shaped building which does help locating it – not that it is a problem. ... Full story
Brockholes Revisited
Brockholes Conference Centre is one of a cluster of wooden buildings which sits amongst reedbeds on a lake in a 106 hectare nature reserve. You could be forgiven for thinking you were miles from civilisation but you would be totally wrong. Brockholes Conference Centre is less than one mile off the M6 motorway at junction 31 – the ‘Tickled Trout’ junction in Preston, Lancashire. ... Full story
'Office World'
Two of the guys in our office last week were debating whether the coffee machine in the canteen was a 'Microsoft Word’ design or an ‘Apple Mac’ designed machine. They decided it must be an Apple Mac because the automated instructions were so polite: ‘Please take your drink – thank you’. The fact that the coffee was total sludge didn’t seem to matter. Crazy? - touch and go in their case. ... Full story
Salford City Stadium opens 27 December 2011
Salford City Stadium is now complete and opens 27 December 2011. Salford Reds will kick off their first game at the new stadium on 8 January 2012, in a warm up fixture against Leigh Centurions. I had a ‘hard hat’ tour of the stadium just over a month ago when it was a concrete shell in the middle of a muddy field. This week I returned to see how imagination matched reality. ... Full story
Viva Live Music at St Ermins Hotel London
Finding a venue that has a ‘Wow’ factor when guests arrive is always a challenge. When it is in Central London, close to public transport, that is even more of a challenge, yet Viva Live Music had the privilege of performing twice at such a venue. St Ermins is a recently refurbished hotel close to St James’s tube station. ... Full story
'A rice and three' in Manchester's Northern Quarter
'A rice and three' for the curry-lover is the order of the day in any Indian restaurant in Manchester's Northern Quarter, or so we were assured by John our guide. We had started our Architectural Walk of Manchester in the city's Northern Quarter leaving ‘corporate Manchester’ far behind for a tour of the small shops, studios, independent galleries, record shops, bars and some of the best Indian restaurants Manchester has to offer. ... Full story
Park Hotel on Preston’s East Cliff is up for sale
The Park Hotel on Preston’s East Cliff is up for sale - not that the building has been in the hotel business for quite a few years. The Park Hotel is being vacated by Lancashire County Council. Tough economic conditions and financial cutbacks are now forcing the Authority to move their 500 plus administration staff to alternative accommodation. ... Full story
Octagon stars in BBC’s Question Time.
The Octagon, located within the Queen Mary University of London’s Mile End campus, was once again in the spotlight this month when the BBC returned for the third time within a year to film the panel show ‘Question Time’. The Octagon, inspired by the Reading Room at the British Museum, was originally built as a Library. The Octagon now offers 437 square metres of space. Its unique Victorian setting will seat up to 180 guests for a banquet or 500 standing for a reception. ... Full story
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Langtree Park Stadium opens January 2012.
The new stadium currently under construction for St Helens Rugby League Club in Lancashire will be named the Langtree Park Stadium when it opens in January 2012. Langtree Park Stadium is located at the heart of the North West, between Liverpool and Manchester, a few minutes from the M6, M62 and M57 motorways. ... Full story