The hotel, which won the award after receiving the most votes from readers of the architecture website Building Design, has been chosen as the venue for the Royal Town Planning Institute’s south-west branch conference on 15 May.
It is the second time in eight years that the institute has held its south-west conference in the Island, and this year’s visit also coincides with Jersey’s celebration of the 50th anniversary of its planning and building legislation. The seminar is entitled ‘Planning for growth in sensitive locations – lessons from the Channel Islands’ and speakers will include builders, architects and planners from the UK and Jersey who will look at the challenges and responses to development of both jurisdictions.
When asked whether the event’s location was likely to lead to raised eyebrows, Planning’s director of policy, projects and the historic environment, Kevin Pilley, said: ‘We simply secured a suitable venue in St Helier that was able to accommodate an event of this type.
‘The perspective that the Radisson gives on the Waterfront, linking historic Jersey and modern Jersey, is an interesting contrast, but there is no significance to the location. It’s just a practical location for the event.’
He added: ‘There will be a mixture of speakers from the UK and Jersey so it will be interesting to compare and contrast the challenges we face here and the challenges faced elsewhere.’
Mr Pilley said that the conference also tied in with the Council of Ministers’ intention to look at how St Helier might be regenerated in years to come.
Tickets for the event cost £75 for Royal Town Planning Institute members and £85 for non-members.
THE Radisson Hotel, a building that the Planning Minister later admitted was disliked by nearly everyone, was nominated for the Carbuncle Cup 2008.
The building later won the award, which rewards monstrosity, given out by the architecture website Building Design. Islander Alan Holmes nominated the Radisson Hotel and described it as ‘a cross between a blockhouse and a wheat silo’ and ‘the most ugly blob imaginable’.
The hotel also suffered criticism earlier in the month when leading UK architect Jim Greaves, in the Island to discuss the Esplanade Quarter, suggested that it was the wrong colour.
The hotel beat other eyesores, including Walton Street car park in Aylesbury and Eyre Street car park in Sheffield, to the top prize.
An unknown man went viral in 2013 when he took a dip in the Raddison Hotel’s giant fish tank as a bet.
Video footage of the man clambering into the 12,000-litre tank filled with tropical fish at the Radisson Hotel and swimming was posted on YouTube.
Hysterical laughter can be heard in the background of the clip and the man’s friend can be heard shouting “Swim down that way” before an angry-looking hotel worker tells him to get out and he runs away.
The tank, which weighs nine tonnes when empty, was a feature in the ITN building in London and was bought by the hotel after a campaign to save it by the Channel 4 news presenter Jon Snow when the company decided that it had to go during a refurbishment of the building.
It was later sold by the hotel.
