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The Van Alen Building is a modern apartment and penthouse block on the seafront in Brighton, part of the English city of Brighton and Hove. It was named after William Van Alen, the architect of New York City's Chrysler Building and is designed as a 21st-century interpretation of the Art Deco and Streamline Moderne styles. It was completed in 2001.
Residential development along the north side of Marine Parade, a wide road leading eastwards along Brighton seafront across the top of East Cliff, began in about 1790 at the west end (nearest the old fishing village of Brighthelmston—the ancient heart of the city). The houses were large, well-appointed and benefited from superb direct sea views, so the area immediately became one of the highest-class areas of the growing town; in the 21st century it has been described as "the country's most impressive marine façade".[1] Most of the area is protected by one of the 34 conservation areas in the city, and features one of its best and most consistent sets of Regency architecture.[1][2]
One plot of land towards the western end was marred by a derelict petrol station for many years. In the late 1990s, housebuilder Berkeley Group Holdings, under its Berkeley Homes brand, bought the brownfield site and sought to redevelop it with a high-density residential development. Its proposal was an apartment block with two- and three-bedroom flats, all with balconies and sea views and served by an underground car park.[1] Because the prominent site was so visually sensitive—on a main road into and out of Brighton and surrounded by high-quality, architecturally harmonious stuccoed buildings of moderate height—the company and their chosen architect had to present their plans to several parties. Brighton and Hove Borough (later City) Council and two national government bodies, English Heritage and the Royal Fine Arts Commission (now the Commission for Architecture and the Built Environment), were involved.[1]
バークレー・ホームズは、ロンドンを拠点とする建築事務所PRCフュースターに建物の設計を依頼し、プロジェクトの建築家はピーター・ラッターでした。[ 3 ]合意された設計は、2つのペントハウスとコンシェルジュ用の宿泊施設を含む、海に面した38戸のアパートメントでした。議会は、開発の一環として手頃な価格の住宅を設けることを要求したため、ブロックの裏側に6つの新しいテラスハウスも建設されました。 [ 1 ] [ 4 ]工事は1999年に始まり、ブロックは2001年に完成しました。[ 1 ] [ 3 ]この建物は、ニューヨーク市マンハッタンのアールデコ様式のクライスラービルの建築家であるウィリアム・ヴァン・アレンにちなんで名付けられました。 [ 1 ]
38戸のマンションは2000年5月下旬に売りに出され、数時間以内にほとんどが売れました。2000年6月3日には、完成まで18ヶ月待たなければならず、価格は最大50万ポンド、参考になるのはアーティストの図面だけだったにもかかわらず、残りはわずか8戸だったと報じられました。[ 1 ] [ 5 ]これらのマンションは、投資と贅沢に関心のある購入者向けの最高級市場をターゲットにしており、[ 5 ]それに見合った価格設定でした。スパイス・ガールズの元メンバーであるエマ・バントンは、週末の別荘として2001年にペントハウスの1つを購入し、1年後に約75万ポンドで売却しました。[ 6 ]
2003年8月11日未明、ペントハウスの1室が火災で全焼した。消防士たちは高さ50フィート（15メートル）に達した炎と5時間格闘した。当時、その部屋は空室だった。[ 7 ]火災の原因が分からず困惑した消防調査官は、火は木製の床のバルコニーから部屋に燃え移ったと発表し、カモメがくわえていたタバコをくわえて食べられないと分かるとバルコニーに落とした可能性があると述べた。[ 8 ]可能性は低いとされた他の2つの説は、日中、ガラス張りのバルコニーが太陽光線を増幅して木製のデッキに集束させ、くすぶり始めて最終的に発火したというもの、またはビーチで点火された花火がデッキに飛んできたというものだった。[ 8 ]当時のその部屋の市場価値は約75万ポンドだった。[ 7 ]
The Van Alen Building consists of three linked blocks of equal width, of which the westernmost is recessed significantly from Marine Parade. The centre bay is set further forwards but still recessed, and the easternmost (corner) bay fronts the road.[3] Curved lines and surfaces are used throughout; the building thereby represents a 21st-century interpretation of the Art Deco and Streamline Moderne styles which were popular themes in seaside resort architecture in the 1930s.[1][3] In Brighton, this tradition was represented by the Embassy Court development of 1934–36 by Modernist architect Wells Coates—one of the city's most innovative and iconic modern buildings[9]—and the Van Alen Building has been compared to it.[5] The overall design has been praised as innovative by Brighton & Hove City Council and within the building industry.[6] Local conservationists have also given their approval.[10]
The white-painted façade has some nautical-themed windows in the style of portholes, long horizontal glazed areas facing the sea, and fully glazed balconies.[3] These were installed instead of the intended opaque balconies at the request of the heritage bodies consulted,[11] and are connected by Modernist-style "fins".[3]