A Room for London

Winners Announced

London

There can be few places to stay a night in London quite as unusual, poetic and life-enhancing as Living Architecture's newest project: a 'boat' perched, as if by retreating floodwaters, on the very edge of the Queen Elizabeth Hall.

This one-bedroom temporary installation is being commissioned by Living Architecture and Artangel, two of Britain's leading cultural organisations. It will sit on top of the Queen Elizabeth Hall at Southbank Centre and be part of the London 2012 Festival.

The building, designed by David Kohn Architects and artist Fiona Banner, is intended to offer guests a place of refuge and reflection amidst the flow of traffic at this iconic location in the capital. The lower and upper decks offer extraordinary views, by day and night, of a London panorama that stretches from Big Ben to St Paul's cathedral. Inside, the boat is a beautifully crafted timber object, full of nooks and crannies to explore. On arrival 'aboard', a nautical flag will be raised to signal occupation, with the visitors invited to fill in a logbook on the 'bridge' of the boat, detailing what they have experienced during their stay, out of the window as much as within themselves. This is contemporary architecture at its most playful, beguiling and thought-provoking.

You will be able to spend a night in A Room for London from January to December 2012. Bookings for the room will open on 8th September 2011.