The Roi des Belges began its life last summer in a barn in rural Sussex. A marriage of Plymouth steel and magenta-stained timber, it's a strange little vessel dignified by its nods to Heart of Darkness , Roi des Belges being the name of the boat Joseph Conrad took up the Congo in 1889. It would take five months, a police escort and a crane to bring it to where it stands now: on the roof of London's Queen Elizabeth Hall by the Thames. As a structure, it is a giddy and beautiful thing with broad windows offering views along the river. While its presence is in part aesthetic, its purpose is also practical: devised by Living Architecture and the arts organisation Artangel , and given the additional name A Room for London , the boat will, for much of its 12-month rooftop residency, operate as a very special one-room hotel . However, for a number of days each month as part of the Cultural Olympiad, it will also host a series of events. There will be resident writers and thinkers, a sprinkling of uncategorisable performances (including Orson Welles's unfilmed screenplay for Heart of Darkness and David Byrne talking about bicycles ) and a monthly musical event. Watch Andrew Bird in conversation with Laura Barton, discussing A Room for London Link to this video A year ago, Michael Morris, co-director of Artangel, invited me for a glass of wine. It wasn't such a curious invitation. Michael and I often email