Gensler Brings Dubai Glamour To Blackpool

Architects Gensler, have been hired by developer Re-Blackpool to design their planned casino quarter for the sea-side town in its bid to reinvent itself as the British Las Vegas.The £350 million project will contain a 170,000 square metre development of an 800 room hotel, entertainment and gambling facilities plus a 3000 seat auditorium in a conference centre and 5,000 square metres of exhibition space.The scheme includes a planned tower that Gensler have based on the famous Burj Al Dubai that will be 152 metres high and occupied by a five star hotel.The problem from the review by the Commission for Architecture and Built Environment have on the design of the tall element of the project in particular is the close proximity it will be in with the existing listed Blackpool Tower which they feel whilst not bad in itself makes no case for being next to such a nationally recognised building.The site is currently home to Blackpool's oldest casino, the Grosvenor and stands almost next to the "Golden Mile" the central entertainment area of Blackpool. A planning application is expected to be filed next month on the massive scheme but Blackpool still has to win the eye of the government before it can go-ahead whilst the approach of the developer in trying to secure consent for a tall building from an outline application alone has been slated by CABE.Whether the developers can win their bid with the government despite having come third behind Glasgow and the Millennium Dome in the latest running remains to be seen but to many Blackpool is still by far the favourite to win this race and transform itself from a pokey, windswept venue with Britain's first super casino.