North West architectural ‘gem’ is restored to former glory

Jul 7 2008 by Vicky Anderson, Liverpool Daily Post

ONE of the North West’s lost architec-tural gems has been restored to its former glory thanks to a Liverpool design firm.

The Midland Hotel, in Morecambe, has recently reopened following an £11m restoration.

Award-winning architecture practice Union North, based on Hope Street, added its own unique modern touches while preserving its famous art deco heritage.

Coco Chanel, Wallace Simpson and Laurence Olivier were among the best-known guests in its 1930s heyday but the Midland finally closed, ruined after years of neglect, in 1998.

Timothy Davies, one of the directors of Union North and project architect, said: “As a design-led practice, we are always looking to do something new and interesting.

“Obviously, the Midland is a very famous building and when we first went in it was really sad to see such a prominent building derelict and fallen into disrepair.

“It was the challenge of taking something a lot of people saw at the time as a white elephant.

“But it has such a unique design, it is the first example of art deco architecture in a hotel in the country, and was exciting because of the nature of the building. Our original idea was to tap into the original philo-sophy, and go back to the future. The modern interventions are in keeping with the spirit of the original hotel.”

The hotel was bought by North West developers Urban Splash, which has created a new hotel arm to the business to run the Midland itself.

First, more rooms needed to be added with a new top floor of suites, and the restaurant area also had to be expanded.

There were problems, too, with the fact the existing rooms did not have their own bathrooms, as communal areas had been used the first time around, and Union North created in-novative folding pods to install bath-rooms without encroaching on space.

The artwork and colour schemes of the rooms were inspired by some old cinefilm, found by a relative of one of the team at a car boot sale, that completely coincidentally turned out to be of the resort in its glory days.

Mr Davies added: “It is amazing to see how the hotel has got that sense of grandeur back. You can’t help but be impressed.”

Union North was established 10 years ago and has won architectural accolades for its work including, in Liverpool, the cafe area of the Greenland Street gallery and the headquarters of Toxteth TV.

Jonathan Falkingham, chief executive of Urban Splash, said: “It’s been a very exciting month since we completed the Midland’s transformation. The love for the hotel obviously goes beyond Morecambe and we’ve had visitors from across the North West, Merseyside included, each of whom have an affinity with one of the region’s great seaside resorts.

“We recognise the need to work with the best architectural teams in the region, such as Union North, to bring in strong modern elements of design, something we have successfully integrated into this project.”

vickyanderson@dailypost.co.uk