CLIENT: Radisson Hotels
DATE: September 2004
LOCATION: London, UK
PROJECT TYPE: Architectural, Engineering
JEREMY THOM DESIGNS ROLE: Overall Project Designer
The newly constructed Radisson Hotel at Stansted, London’s third airport, has an airy triangular glass-walled atrium with three adjoining restaurants and a large bar, within which the client wished to place an iconic centrepiece. A 40’ tall wine storage tower, with capacity for 2800 bottles, staffed by flying wine waitresses (‘Angels’ – all trained aerialists in acrobatic harnesses) to ascend the tower’s four faces on sophisticated remotely controlled hoists to collect the bottles of wine.
Each face of the tower is constructed of clear acrylic wine cases, stacked to 30’ tall by 4’6” wide, with cooled air, at specific temperatures, blown into the back of the white wine and champagne cases whilst the red wine is maintained at room temperature.
The tower is surrounded by a glass enclosure with a pyramid cap that maintains a higher internal pressure within it. Each wine case of a dozen bottles has, on its rear face, an independently programmed blue-green electroluminescent light panel, normally set at 50% brightness. This is triggered by each order from the cash register in the bar to illuminate the selected case at 100% which indicates to the Angels the case to fly to and the bottle of wine to retrieve.
The tower is still operating to this day.