The Marco Island, Nottingham

The Marco Island is a very modern hotel/apartment complex that has been built close to the city centre in Nottingham. I came across it while doing my sketchbook at the start of my first year in architecture technology. This particular building caught my eye because its completely different to other apartment blocks. In my opinion, its very apparent the entire complex has been designed around a large ferry or cruiser, with its curved 'bow' and a more square 'stern'. White prefabricated cement boards have been used in contrast with tinted windows as an outside finish to represent the slick, silk white finish of a normal cruiser ship.  Also the upper 3 levels have a tired system where balcony space becomes available which also replicates the average build of a boat. This is what i found massively unusual! Every flat and apartment block I ever see is an ugly tower of grey or brown cement, where every square inch of space is used to make some sort of income of its residents. So why, in a country famous for its terrible weather waste plenty of space which could be used for additional apartments, a gym, a residential cafe or some other profitable scheme? although this may compromise its external appearance, when did that ever matter? And some sort of balcony could still be used on the top floor, if the other floors where filled. Although i ask these questions, i must say i prefer a unique design like this, and wish this approach was used with many of the other apartment blocks around British city's!

References: Image and sketch sourced by myself, Matthew Parsons, taken on 24/04/14