HOTEL COULD HAVE MEDICAL THEME
THE derelict Denbigh hospital could be redeveloped as a hotel themed around its history as a Victorian asylum. Signature Living boss Lawrence Kenwright said he and his team were looking at basing one of the two hotels planned for the site around a ghostly theme that drew on the building’s former use.
He said he intended to get public feedback on the ideas before committing to them. But he said the hotel needed to have some sort of edge to make it attractive to guests from all around the UK.
The Merseyside-based millionaire, who hopes to add the hospital to his stable of hotels, said: “You could be greeted by men in white coats, there could be a ghost theme.
“It will have a slight edgy feeling about it. It’s not going to be brazen but you have to have it reflect what it was, you have to contour to the DNA of the building. You can’t just walk away from that.
“We’re working on it at the moment, and I’m trying to give a flavour of what we would like to do with it. It’s pointless opening a bland hotel; it needs to have something edgy about it.
“That’s how we are going to promote it. I believe firmly that this building should not be knocked down, what happens there needs to reflect the building and its history. A hotel is better than a museum for that because people can actually stay there and experience it.”
But Mr Kenwright said he intended to hear from the public what they thought about the plans.
“We are going to have at least two open days where I will present and talk about it, and get people’s ideas about what they think should be the future of the building. We will take into account what people think.”
Signature Living has specialised in identifying heritage buildings whose futures are uncertain and that have lain empty for years.
The company’s flagship hotel, 30 James Street, close to Liverpool’s waterfront, is in the building that was once the headquarters of the White Star Line, the shipping firm that owned the Titanic.
It had been empty for decades and was owned by a London property magnate. Mr Kenwright has argued that as the owners of listed buildings do not have to pay business rates when they are empty, many in cities like Liverpool have stood unused and in disrepair for years because there is little incentive to prompt owners to sell them or redevelop them.
The Denbigh hospital, which has been redundant for more than two decades and been a repeated target for arsonists – most recently just last week – would be Signature Living’s second project in Wales.
And like the first, the Coal Exchange in Cardiff, now known as the Exchange Hotel, it comes with controversy attached. When Signature Living first got involved in the Cardiff venture, their interest was met with a backlash, with city MP Stephen Doughty one of the main critics.
But Mr Kenwright said it was his ambition to save buildings such as the Coal Exchange, where other prospectors may want to knock them down.