Starck is booked in to design London hotels

London’s hotel industry is soon to get a taste of Philippe Starck’s style. One hotel project is awaiting planning permission and another operator is looking for sites – both using the French designer.

Starck has designed a five-star hotel and leisure complex as part of a new leisure and residential development at Canary Wharf owned by Hong Kong-listed Hotel Properties and Canary Wharf.

The two architects on the project are Koetter Kim and Novo and work will start on-site in March, subject to planning consent. Phase one, which includes the 150-room hotel on a 70 000m2 site, is due to be completed in 1999.

Identity specialists are also likely to be called in to name the joint venture company and the development, currently operating under the name of Canary Wharf Riverside. “It will be luxurious and will fit with the style of Canary Wharf,” says a spokeswoman for the development.

Meanwhile, Ian Schrager, owner of the Starck-designed Paramount and Royalton hotels in New York, is on the hunt with Starck for a number of existing hotels or new sites in London, according to a spokeswoman for Starck.

However, a spokeswoman for Schrager says there are no definite plans for London at the moment, although the French designer would be involved in any such scheme.

The Mondrian “urban resort” – another Schrager/Starck venture – opened on Sunset Boulevard in Los Angeles earlier this month.