The concept for the design of the houses is to create generous living spaces flooded with natural light and offer surprising spatial relationships between the inside and outside of each property. This is achieved through the physical connections between living areas and private courtyards arranged over multiple levels, as well as a continuous visual connection between the central atrium staircase and the outside amenity spaces.

The external facades offer a play of high quality materials, elegantly proportioned shapes, and protruding and recessed planes to provide a strong rhythm and unified architectural expression across the mews whilst clearly identifying each property as an individual home.

Nikolaj Mitens, Associate at Dexter Moren Associates said, “We have been lucky enough to work with clients, who were committed to providing family-sized townhouses of the very highest spatial quality and who have been truly supportive of our innovative solutions and contemporary architectural style.”

The scheme was previously featured at New London Architecture’s Housing Exhibition chosen for demonstrating a new London vernacular of the traditional terraced street.

Ends

The building consists of three slender ‘slices’ of differing cladding materials and colours, expressing the hotels spatial arrangement along a central corridor. The facade design focuses on breaking down the massing along the riverfront into smaller elements, each with a vertical emphasis and differing parapet heights to reflect the varied roof lines in Bedford’s town centre. The ground floor opens onto the square and riverside walk, featuring restaurants and retail space.

Nikolaj Mitens, Associate at Dexter Moren Associates said, “This fantastic development site in the heart of Bedford presents a unique opportunity to breathe new life into the neglected riverside quarter.

Unbelievably, the best site in town has been a Council car park ever since Charles Wells’ Brewery closed down and was demolished in 1976. With a new market square, a cinema, new riverfront apartments, a hotel, a landscaped river walk fronted by restaurants and activity, and a new foot bridge linking to the south bank this will be a great, modern addition to the historic market town.”

Key internal spaces were re-planned and reconfigured to maximise their potential and to facilitate the necessary upgrade of services. The public spaces have been designed as a series of rooms that transition seamlessly into one another, offering four different experiences. The ground floor comprises reception, concierge, lobby lounge and Emmeline’s lounge. At the heart of the hotel is an American inspired Smokehouse and sophisticated pub with its own entrance.

Major architectural interventions include the creation of a new porte cochère, which has been built within the existing facade, leading guests into an atrium reception featuring a triangular glass skylight.

Across the lower ground floor structural modifications and 2m of excavation were required to allow for the conference facilities and a 24 hour gym for hotel guests. In addition, DMA have installed eight new lifts within 2 new lift cores and incorporated a grand elliptical feature staircase to the lower ground floor.

The hotel incorporates 256 new rooms, spread over six floors, including 30 studios, 14 one-bedroom suites, and a rooftop penthouse.