The BoTree

The Bo Tree, an eight-story high-rise hotel within the Place III Hotel collection, is situated off Marylebone Lane in the London West End. The hotel's unique approach to luxury is rooted in a purpose-driven ethos that focuses on Conscious Luxury. This philosophy extends throughout the hotel, from its Italian restaurant, LAVO, to The BoTree Bar, where connection is key.

The BoTree, includes four basement levels, with the lowest floor extending approximately 16 meters below street level. Echoing the life on the Lane, it features 199 luxury hotel bedrooms complemented by amenity and leisure spaces on other floors. The hotel strives to be a place where luxury intersects with compassion, where the vibrant neighbourhoods of Marylebone, Mayfair, and Soho come together, and where everyone can feel a deep sense of belonging.

Jensen Hughes team served as the project fire safety consultant during the building's design stages, collaborating with the architect and lead designers to ensure compliance with legislative fire safety design requirements while accommodating the complex architectural vision of The BoTree. This article outlines our approach and how it allowed us to surpass industry standards, ensuring the utmost safety for both the building and its occupants.

The BoTree project presented intricate fire safety challenges due to its extensive size and diverse usage, combining residential, leisure, conference, kitchen, and members club facilities. This required accommodating a substantial number of people with varying risk profiles. Our primary objective was to establish efficient means of escape and firefighting access while maintaining robust fire safety standards for all occupants and firefighters, without compromising the architectural ambitions of the project.

Key fire strategy provisions for the building include a commercial-grade watermist system, addressable automatic fire detection and alarm systems, two escape cores, and a firefighting core equipped with fire mains, a firefighting lift, and smoke control-protected lobbies at each level. Each basement level is equipped with 10 air changes per hour smoke clearance system to aid firefighting operations. Passive fire protection measures are achieved through internal fire subdivision, structural frame protection, and careful selection of external wall materials to mitigate fire spread.

The fire strategy incorporates a racetrack corridor layout at most levels, providing multiple access points into the two cores for occupants and firefighting personnel. This layout optimizes efficiency, allowing increased building capacity, reduced travel distances, and improved hose-laying routes for firefighting personnel. It also offers flexibility to the architect for the layout and uses of internal rooms.

The presence of four basement storeys posed a challenge in designing the building's basement smoke clearance strategy, which required 10 air changes per hour from each level or compartment. By utilizing the "racetrack" corridor layouts and carefully tailoring internal fire subdivision standards, our strategy aimed to draw smoke directly from the corridor, reducing the need for extensive ductwork and fire damper provisions. This not only enhanced ventilation system efficiency but also freed up space for other building services and architectural features. Moreover, it minimized the requirement for fire stopping service penetrations, thereby reducing weak points and ongoing maintenance needs.

Jensen Hughe’s extensive experience in all stages of building design and construction enables us to develop fire strategies that enhance design flexibility, reduce costs, and maintain the highest standards of quality and safety, benefiting our clients. Our team of experts is dedicated to delivering top notch services to The BoTree, which is part of the renowned Legend Collection within Preferred Hotels and Resorts. Our fire consultancy services are founded on a commitment to delivering practical solutions and ensuring the safety of both buildings and their occupants.