Blackpool’s Winter Gardens 266-room hotel gets go-ahead
The accommodation is to be built directly opposite the grade two-listed theatre, span five storeys, and sport a public-facing café and restaurant on its ground floor.
Agent Gerald Eve acted on the applicant C1 Capital and Mottram Estates’ behalf, submitting the plans to Blackpool Council. Architect Studio Moren designed the 266-room scheme.
Plans indicate there will be 186 typical hotel bedrooms, 86 studios, and 22 one-bed apartments for longer-term stays on offer.
Across the whole build, there will be 131,000 sq ft of floorspace.
The hotel rooms would be marketed as a different brand offer to the self-contained accommodation, but both would be offered and operated by the same company.
Guests will also have access to a 900 sq ft gym and landscaped courtyard.
The site is bound by Adelaide Street and Alfred Street and is currently a surface-level car park on council-owned land.
Multiple applications to transform the site into a hotel have been put to Blackpool Council since 2011.
Projects with varying room numbers had been put forward before the council agreed on this plan. In May 2021, outline planning permission was granted for a 160-room, five-storey hotel with plans being amended up until February this year.
According to plans, the design has made a subtle reference to Blackpool’s Art Deco heritage, with an emphasis on a strong geometric façade. Credit: via planning documents
The site sits within the Blackpool Town Centre Conservation Area, which was last extended in 2014.
Builds in this zone must adhere to characteristics of the conservation area, with a “strong sense of enclosure in the street scene” and an “eclectic mix of styles and finishes”, according to planning documents.
The design has made a subtle reference to Blackpool’s Art Deco heritage, with an emphasis on a strong geometric façade, according to the application.
C1 Capital has worked on various hotels around the country, including the Hilton London Olympia and Tamburlaine Hotel in Cambridge.
The project team includes transport consultant Mayer Brown, heritage consultant Landgage, and biodiversity consultant Tyler Grange.
To view the application, use the reference number 24/0131 in Blackpool Council’s planning portal.
