The Vetro, Belfast

The ‘Vetro’s are creeping north of the border now. I wonder if all the Italians’ big shiny buildings have ‘Gloine’ somewhere in their names these days…

£50m HOTEL SCHEME FOR BELFAST CITY CENTRE
By Deric Henderson, Press Association
Developers have lodged plans for a £50 million hotel scheme to regenerate a run-down area close to Belfast city centre, it was revealed today.
Sun Explorer is seeking permission to erect the 100-metre high 26-storey building which will also have serviced apartments as well as leisure and conference facilities.
Designed specifically for an international hotelier, the striking glass facade will bring an exciting addition to the architectural landscape of the city centre’s western gateway in the King St/Castle St area, according to the developers.
The building will be called The Vetro – the Italian word for glass – and will provide construction jobs and around 300 full-time and part-time jobs. There will also be 144 serviced apartments and substantial leisure and conference facilities.
The development could be completed within two years of planning approval being given.
An application was lodged with the Department of the Environment. It falls within the wider area identified for urban renewal/regeneration under the Department for Social Development’s South West Quarter Regeneration Scheme.
Other partners in the project team include project manager Paul Durnien, of chartered surveyors Durnien.com, and award-winning architect Colin Conn, of BOX Architects. The planning agent is Tom Stokes of TSA Planning.
Paul Durnien, managing director of Durnien.com, said: “The development will be a tremendous asset to a part of Belfast that has lacked inward investment in recent years. The regeneration of this part of the city is a natural follow-on from the successful regeneration of the Laganside and Cathedral Quarter areas.”