Lawyers at Ashfords, which has an office in Bristol, have secured victory in a landmark High Court case that has left world-leading architects Foster + Partners facing a £3.6m bill over an unbuilt hotel.
The court ruled that the renowned architecture practice must pay the amount to Riva Properties for losses it incurred in finding a new team to design the five-star hotel so it could be built within the budget. 
Foster + Partners’ design, pictured, for the proposed 600-bedroom hotel near Heathrow Airport had seven floors above ground and seven below ground and a large glass biosphere around the outside containing the ‘village’.
Riva Properties claimed Foster + Partners’ design – which featured, in the architects’ words, a distinctive layered glass shell – would have cost £195m to build. That would have been more than twice its original budget of £70m, which was later increased to £100m.
Following the high-profile judgment, Ashfords partner and head of adjudication and arbitration services Stephen Homer said the case served “as a warning to designers that they cannot design in a vacuum”.
Riva owner John Dhanoa claimed Fosters had been notified of the intended overall budget. However, when the hotel design was costed in January 2008, the estimated cost was more than double the original budget, coming in at £195m.
While the hotel was granted planning permission, it was never built as it was not possible for Riva to obtain funding for the hotel scheme with such a high build cost.
Mr Homer said: “Cost and budget is a key constraint and should always be identified and considered when designing any project, even when the provision of cost advice is expressly excluded from the designer’s obligations.”
Mr Homer was assisted in the 11-day hearing by Lianne Edwards, a solicitor in Ashfords’ construction team.
Foster + Partners said it was “shocked and disappointed” by the decision, but would “see what lessons or actions should be taken”.
Ashfords employs around 500 people across its offices in Exeter, London, Bristol, Taunton, Tiverton and Plymouth.
