The Tesco Garden Centre closed in September 2011 and has been boarded up for the last eight years.
There is now a planning application to turn in into an 86 bedroom hotel with associated parking, infrastructure and landscaping.
It will be located close to the Hilton Garden Hotel and Premier Inn just off the A34 Marcham Interchange, and within easy reach of Oxford, and Abingdon, and a number of important business and science parks.
The design is not going to win any architecture awards for Abingdon. Traffic and flooding could be issues.
The architecture looks like the Travelodge in Oxford. I had the headache when working to try to find accommodation for visiting company personel. It was difficult to find anywhere for them to stay that was a reasonable price. They will have to consider flooding in this area. Some years they have to close the Tesco car park as it floods as it is the flood plain for the Ock.
It will be reassuring to know that whilst we are all being asked to turn our TVs off of standby, this new building will utilise a grey water collecting system for it’s toilet flushing and heating, will have solar panels all over the most efficient faces and of course make use of ground source heat pumps as well as heat/energy recovery systems…all whilst offsetting it’s carbon footprint; what with the fashionable climate emergency thing at the moment…
The Travelodge chain simply uses the corporate template to replicate their hotels in each venue. This is cost-effective and ensures that their clientele have an easy recognition task. It is also rather ugly, but neither Travelodge nor the planning authority will be particularly concerned about that; it’s not in a conservation area.
There are architects around who design brilliant urban schemes which are both attractive and affordable. Peter Barber Architects is one outstanding practice. It would be lovely to have their work in our town.
http://www.peterbarberarchitects.com/
The planning authority WILL be aware of the climate emergency though, and so I have every confidence that the grey water system, etc etc will be specific planning requirements that needs to be met.
…otherwise it makes a bit of a mockery of us turning our tvs off of standby.
I thought it was going to be a KFC? FUGLY buildings all…