The Bermuda Financial Centre was planned to sit on a large five acre urban site adjacent to the west boundary of the City of Hamilton. Butterworth Associates were selected as master planners and lead architects for Bermuda’s largest urban development project. The site, previously occupied by the Bermudiana Hotel, was designated for mixed development use by the Government’s own planners.
History
The existing Hotel could not sustain itself and was put on the open market by its then owners (Trust House Forte). The Planning constraints which called for either a new Hotel (Hospitality) or a mixed use (Commercial and Hospitality) caused the property to be difficult to sell.
A local experienced Hotelier with good international contacts in the Hotel Industry and an ambitious Architect with considerable experience with large office projects (Fraser Butterworth) were attracted to the site’s potential. They put much research into the ways in which the site could be redeveloped. Previous efforts by other potential developers had evolved around single, multi-purpose buildings on the site but had not gained planning approval. The new project was conceived as a multi-building development with two office buildings and a first class hotel sharing the same campus. This attracted the Planners to become deeply involved and an exciting project with much public access into the campus quickly evolved. This project is illustrated here.
The brief
The design evolved as a project that occupied less than 50% of the site, yet housed a 170 room, five-star hotel, 45 luxury condominium apartments, 250,000 sq. ft. of prestigious office buildings and an underground parking facility for 300 cars. Negotiations were begun with the Four Seasons Hotel and their requirements for room sizes and types were incorporated in the design.
Final Story
Full planning approval for this project was obtained before it was abandoned when local banking support was withdrawn. Subsequently, the property was sub divided and sold as two Commercial sites that now house the Ace and the Exel offices. We remain dismayed at the change in the Planning requirement for a mixed-use development but unfortunately understand how things work in our small community. We illustrate this project to substantiate our claim to have a substantial record of large hotel project design. The project failed because it encompassed a Hotel within its design. Two commercial sites were easier to sell.
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