Corinthia Hotel

• Residential

The 5 star Corinthia Hotel, London is at the corner of Northumberland Avenue and Whitehall Place near Trafalgar square in London. The project consists of two first floor courtyards which on the face of it seemed straight forward, however it soon became apparent that access to these courtyards would be restricted because they were surrounded on all sides of the building up to the 8th floor.

We were able to lower three 5 tonne Acer Palmatums into the site by crane, some three months before, but all other materials had to be carried by hand through the hotel, up four flights of stairs to the courtyards. A window had to be removed to allow access onto the courtyards, and working conditions were very tight once materials were laid out. To see the extent of what had to be manhandled was astonishing.

Yorkstone paving is laid on pedestals and Yorkstone clad to raised concrete block planters. The main courtyard has a 500mm step which runs through the area. The mirror water feature was added to the scheme at the very last stage, which compliments the courtyard wall. A full irrigation system was supplied and installed.

Soft Landscaping

The soft landscaping design is very simple yet effective with the three Acer Palmatums. Over 200m of instant Taxus hedging, and instant green wall units of Mobliane Hedera units up to 2m high were used. The client was very keen to use artificial turf in lieu of ground-cover planting, which works well with the design as the courtyard is intended to be used as a visual landscape rather than guests walking through the area.

The smaller courtyard has a much simpler design, which has several Taxus raised beds, and climbers which are Parthencoissus Cyclamen Covina, Vinca Minor Alba and Savcoccoa Cantusa. This courtyard also has several strips of artificial turf.