Fox Linton to float ‘Superyacht’

Fox Linton Associates has been appointed to create the interiors for a floating “Superyacht” hotel set to be permanently moored near London’s Canary Wharf from early 2003.

Work on the 200-room, five-star hotel is scheduled to begin shortly. Planning permission was granted to construction company Harbour Quay, by London borough council Tower Hamlets last week.

Fox Linton, which created the interiors for central London’s One Aldwych Hotel in 1998, won the commission following a four-way unpaid pitch against unnamed consultancies. It refuses to disclose a fee for the work.

A source at Fox Linton Associates says details of the scheme have been kept tightly under wraps and it has been dubbed Project X.

If successful, the Superyacht hotel concept will be rolled out internationally, says Harbour Quay chairman and managing director Jeremy Logie.

He says the hotel will bring new life to the area “through the introduction of water transport for guests and outstanding cuisine”. Logie has briefed Fox Linton to bring an “idiosyncratic approach” to the project.

The top deck of the yacht will feature a 150-seat banqueting suite with views towards the City. Guest access to the hotel will be via a pier with a covered walkway.