EPR’s 128-room hotel City scheme gets OK

EPR Architects’ plans for a hotel scheme in Farringdon have been approved by the City of London Corporation. 

Located in 1-8 Long Lane near the Barbican Centre and Smithfield Market, the development will deliver a nine-storey hotel providing 128 rooms with mini-kitchens as well as living and working areas. 

The scheme will also provide disability access as well as a reception and guest lounge. 

Adam Jones, director at EPR Architects said: “Sustainability is at the core of the scheme and we and Mactaggart Family & Partners, advised by ARUP, have sought to reduce the hotel’s carbon footprint through a series of thoughtful design solutions, including optimising the façade’s design to minimise energy consumption and solar gain, using a low embodied carbon ventilation system and improving on-site biodiversity.”

In 2020, an Emrys Architects-designed office scheme at 1-12 Long Lane was given the green light.

In February this year, the Barbican Association, which represents tenants living in the Barbican Estate, wrote a letter to the city planning officer to object towards the EPR’s new plans for the site. The association’s concerns included the scheme’s height and mass as well as its effect on residential amenity. 

Jane Smith, chair at the Barbican Association planning sub-committee and Sue Cox who is deputy chair at the association’s sub-committee, wrote the letter of objection. 

> Also read: EPR plan for mixed-use Fulham wharf scheme set for green light

The letter said: “Whilst we are aware that the previous office development scheme was consented for the site at 1-12 Long Lane, we remain of the opinion that the height and massing of the revised proposals for this smaller site at 1-8 Long Lane are still inappropriate for this setting and hence that reductions to both are necessary.”

The association also said that the scheme for this smaller site would overshadow neighbouring properties as well as the Charterhouse and Smithfield conservation areas. 

The association added that the scheme is an “unwelcome precedent for other potential developments in the area.”

The site was previously home to the Metropolitan Railway, which arrived in 1863 at Farringdon Street. The railway line was the world’s first underground railway, which opened between Paddington and Farringdon.