Council leader Bella Sankey and the Regency Society have both spoken out in favour of saving as much as possible of the fire-ravaged Royal Albion Hotel.
Their remarks came as demolition experts prepare to start work tomorrow (Wednesday 19 July) to make safe the Brighton seafront hotel.
David Fisher, who chairs the widely respected civic society, said: “The Regency Society is saddened by the devastation caused by the fire at the Royal Albion Hotel.
“This is a key building at one of the most prominent locations in the city and therefore of unusual significance. Restoration of the site will require considerable sensitivity.
“I hope that we might take some inspiration from the example of those who are responsible for the work at the Notre Dame in Paris – not least their care, pace and efficiency.”
Councillor Sankey, the leader of Brighton and Hove City Council, said: “The demolition of part of the Royal Albion Hotel has been delayed until tomorrow on health and safety grounds.
“We, of course, want to save as much of this iconic heritage building as possible and have tasked our contractors to do this.
“As many original features as possible will be set aside for reuse or for moulds for copying.
“A 3D scan of the whole exterior of the building has been carried out and we will be taking photos regularly, hopefully to allow us to replicate the original features.
“We are in contact with Historic England and will continue to work closely with them.”
The council said that the demolition of the damaged section of the building was required to ensure that the building was structurally safe, adding: “Our building control team are on site and contractors are expected to begin the demolition on Wednesday.
“We’re anticipating the demolition will take two to three weeks to complete.”
Council leader Bella Sankey said: “As we move from an emergency response to a recovery phase, our priority is to make sure the area is safe.
“This does mean there will continue to be significant disruption to the area.
“Thank you to our residents, visitors and businesses for their patience and understanding while this important work takes place.”
The Regency Society said: “The hotel comprises three elements that were not merged until a little over 40 years ago.
“The earliest and least damaged was the original Albion Hotel, designed by the great local architect Amon Henry Wilds and built in 1826 on the site of the house of Dr Richard Russell, the promoter of sea-bathing that did so much to create Brighton’s popularity as a resort. This is grade II* listed.
“The western section dates from the late 1850s and was known as the Lion Mansion Hotel until the Second World War. This is grade II listed.
“In between were two lodging houses from the mid-1840s, although from around 1903 the ground floor was the Palace Pier Creamery.
“In 1938 the two houses became Louis Tussaud’s Waxworks. When this closed in 1979, the building was restored with a similar appearance to the original and, like Lion Mansion, was absorbed into the Royal Albion.”
David Fisher, chair of the Regency Society, said: “The Regency Society is pleased to hear that 3D scans and photographs have been taken to aid accurate restoration.
“We hope that the external appearance of the building can be restored faithfully. It would be best, therefore, if demolition could be limited to what is strictly necessary for safety and access reasons.
“It is worth noting that there are two Brighton Corporation plaques to a design by Eric Gill: one on the front of the original hotel commemorating Dr Russell and a second marking the visits of Prime Minister William Gladstone on the frontage of Lion Mansion.
“The Regency Society hopes this can be recovered and replaced in due course.”
The council added: “The Royal Albion Hotel has suffered significant damage following a fire that started on Saturday. The priority now is to make sure the structure is safe.
“East Sussex Fire and Rescue Service attended the site overnight on Monday to put out some smaller fires and reduce the chance of further reignition.
“They will continue to make regular visits overnight on Tuesday to check on the structure. Security will also remain on site throughout.
“These fires have caused a delay to the demolition of the damaged part of the hotel. This is now expected to start on Wednesday and is likely to take two to three weeks.
“Barriers have been placed around the hotel to ensure a safe perimeter and our on-site contractor will continually assess the risk.
“We’re asking people to continue to avoid the area and road diversions remain in place.
“If residents or businesses in the area notice any dust or smoke in the air, please keep windows and doors closed.
“If anyone sees excessive smoke or flames coming from the building, please contact the fire service on 999.
“Part of King’s Road (A259) between the Old Steine roundabout and East Street, as well as most of Pool Valley, has been fenced off due to the risk of falling debris during the demolition process. We expect Pool Valley to remain closed for the next three weeks.
“Unfortunately, the properties directly behind the Royal Albion Hotel will also remain inaccessible. Anyone affected by this has been contacted and given more information or support.
“Residents displaced by the fire can contact our housing team by emailing housing.advice@brighton-hove.gov.uk or calling 01273 294400 (option 1).
“Businesses outside of this exclusion zone can reopen but we would advise that they carry out their own risk assessments to ensure the safety of their staff and customers.
“We are grateful to residents and visitors for their ongoing patience and understanding.
“Multi-agency meetings have taken place between council teams and the UK Health Security Agency on the risk to public health”
Alistair Hill, director of public health, said: “We understand there are health concerns about asbestos. I would like to reassure people that the risks to health are low.
“Asbestos is known to be in the textured ceiling coatings used in the building but there is unlikely to be any significant risk of exposure to asbestos following this fire.
“The area around the hotel will remain closed off to the public and we do not believe that any asbestos has fallen outside this area.
“Our on-site contractor who will be responsible for demolishing the damaged parts of the hotel will be continually assessing the risk and security will remain on site at all times.
“While work is ongoing, if residents or businesses in the area notice any smoke or dust in the air, please keep windows and doors closed.”
“I hope that we might take some inspiration from the example of those who are responsible for the work at the Notre Dame in Paris – not least their care, pace and efficiency.
Well the Norte Dame works are essentially being organised by the French state.
The owners of the hotel have shown little care of the building in the past (some of the awards it has won are the awards you really don’t want to win let alone be in the running for).
Could they not do something unique? Now would be the chance to create something that perhaps fuses the old historic with new cutting edge design or something to create a hotel fit for purpose in the 21st century. Part of the reason it’s been allowed to rot is because only a slumlord of the hotel operator world actually wanted it because it wasn’t really fit for purpose. Brighton needs 4* up hotels, that’s what’s missing from the picture locally so perhaps it could be reimagined as a W or a Kimpton or something and offer a different level of service. Whatever’s clear is that it has been allowed to rot by the current operator and this should not be allowed to continue. Do we know who actually owns it? Britannia operated it but hotels usually aren’t owned by the businesses that run them so I wasn’t sure whether they actually owned the building? Maybe they do.
Britannia owns the hotel.
Absolutely right Jane. One thing Brighton lacks is interesting contemporary architecture. So much is either very mediocre, and/or just a pastiche of the past. It would be an ideal opportunity to create an exciting modern work that is very much of this period, alongside a well-restored part of the original building. And a really good architect should be brought in to design it. An example of how well this has been carried out is the Pallant Gallery in Chichester.
I hope, when the hotel is in action again, it will not return to the terrible hygiene standards of the past.
No cutting-edge design, thank you very much!
The Fact that the Royal Albion Hotel was previously gutted out by a fire in 1998 raises serious concerns about the buildings ability to catch fire so rapidly and so seriously – twice!
I’m glad you remembered this too as I thought I was dreaming as no one had mentioned this fact before
I regularly visit Brighton, only a tourist, but the Royal Albion Hotel was /is very striking and lovely to look at.
I felt sad too, to see it on fire, damage done etc.
Hopefully the hotel can be saved, and reopened again in the future.
Thank goodness the hotel was COMPLETELY EMPTY.
No guests. No staff. Nobody.
“The Regency Society these guys just what on earth was they actually doing when this “Hotel” was being run into the ground by the owners who are one of the worst Hotel chains in Britain with their motto which is no maintenance is good maintenance these are the same guys who objected to the new and much needed Hannington Lanes development thank goodness common sense prevailed in that project.
I’ve stayed at a number of Britania Hotels and I think people are being very unfair to the Group. Brittania has saved many old hotels with much money being spent on them. I think they should be given some credit for this. I recently stayed at the Royal Hotel in Morecambe – finding it clean and with incredibly helpful staff.