New Railway Hotel (later Park Hotel), East Cliff, Preston (Architectural Competition) 2

 Thomas Mitchell gained the first premium of £200 in an open competition and was awarded the commission. The second premium was awarded to Salomons and Ely.

THE PRESTON HOTEL COMPETITION. THE competition designs which were invited for a new hotel at Preston, by the Committee of Management of the London and North Western and Lancashire and Yorkshire Railways are now on view in the upper hall of the Euston Station. Forty-three designs have been submitted, and, as we said last week, these are in a variety of picturesque styles, ranging from Late Domestic Gothic to pure Italian. Most of the designs are illustrated by perspective views, drawn in sepia, and many of the sets of drawings exhibit a large amount of labour in their preparation. The premiums offered have induced several well-known architects to contribute designs, while the eminently picturesque site chosen for the hotel has afforded not a few architects an opportunity of displaying their skill in grouping and composition. The conditions did not bind the competitors to any cost, particular disposition of plan, or style of design, the leading consideration being that the main fronts should face south and east; that there was to be a convenient covered access to the Station, and that provision should be made for forty bedrooms with a due proportion of dressing-rooms, with capabilities for an extension to provide sixty additional bed-rooms at some future time. The last requirement seems to us to be a rather important one in deciding upon the merit of a plan, inasmuch as the addition of so large a number of bedrooms will have the effect of throwing out of scale and balance many of the apartments and elevations that are not designed with reference to such an enlargement. It also necessitates a consideration of staircase and corridor accommodation which very few of the competitors have consulted. Broadly speaking, the plans divide themselves into three classes: parallelograms or arrangements based upon that form; the three-block arrangement, or plans disposed in the shape of the letter “U” and the open square or quadrangle.

 "Valentine" (Messrs. Salomons and Ely, of Manchester) is the motto of the design placed second. It is shown in a boldly drawn sepia perspective, and exhibits some effective grouping in a Gothic half-timbered style. The massing of the gables slightly overhung, the bracketed dormers, and the balconies on the fourth story, with its half-timbered treatment, make up a picturesque composition of dignified elevation. There is much to commend in the planning: the luggage and porters' rooms are conveniently near the entrance; the servants' stairs are placed in handy proximity to the main stair - room near it. We also note that the serving and still-rooms and lifts are close to each other, and near the bar. On the other hand, the covered way makes an awkward junction with the porch, which is set angle-wise, and we find a scanty and insufficient supply of lavatories and conveniences, there being only three WC's on the first floor. The kitchen department is in the basement. [Building News 5 March 1880 page 269-271] 

Reference      Building News 5 March 1880 page 269-271