Staybridge Hotel
The 7 storey hotel was constructed of Structherm Fastbuild® precast concrete wall panels, stairs and precast concrete hollow core floors over a steel frame podium. The party walls were of a direct decoration nature enabling the main contractor, GB Building Solutions, to finish the walls without the need for plasterboard, speeding up completion.
Expert Planning
The 7 storey hotel was completed two weeks ahead of schedule due to expert planning, well managed site liaison and new product innovations. For example the careful planning and co-ordination of delivery schedules between all parties, resulted in the initial two day installation period of the 23 bathroom pods per floor, 115 pods in total, being reduced to one day per floor; a reduction of the overall schedule of five working days.
New Innovations
Due to the offsite nature of the Fastbuild system, the design and construction teams are able to review past projects and study lessons learnt. This continuous improvement methodology has enabled the system to be streamlined, reducing the amount of site fixings needed and cutting the number of laborious on-site tasks down to a minimum. Through this intelligent design a major element of the system was eliminated, resulting in a further five working days being shaved off the tight schedule.
Follow-on Trades
The Fastbuild system is designed to allow the structure to become semi-watertight, to allow follow-on trades to start earlier in the overall works programme. In fact if you had been on site during the construction of this particular hotel, you would have seen quite a spectacle of modern building. Whilst the Structherm installation crew were installing the upper levels of the building, follow-on trades were starting fit out of the lower levels in perfect harmony.
Health & Safety
Fastbuild made a significant contribution to site health and safety because the fast track construction programme reduced site exposure for both operatives and neighbours. Similarly, the offsite manufacturing of the system and staggered panel deliveries maintained a clean and manageable working environment, for both installation crews and follow-on trades.
Conclusion
Modern methods of construction have undoubtedly progressed over the years, with the invention of offsite technology; something which has been embraced in the hotels market.
From the perfect coordination and harmonisation with other suppliers, main contractors and follow on trades to the sheer ingenuity of the product itself, the Staybridge Hotel has proved to be a fine example of an offsite commercial project.
| Project Name |
Staybridge Hotel |
| Client |
GB Building Supplies |
| Location |
Newcastle upon Tyne |
| Building Type |
6 Storey hotel over podium slab |
| Project Size |
5427m2 |
| Supply Package |
Direct decorate walls, floors, stairs, lift shaft, top-box and bathroom pods |
| Build Time |
21 weeks |
Testimonial
“We worked very closely with our supply chain and the client’s team to look for the best and safest construction solutions in the market place for the project with due regard to being able to reduce risk and exposure to our workforce during the build process. Speed of frame design and construction was an issue. Using off-site fabrication and embracing modern methods of construction enabled us to mobilise and get the project to site within a relatively short time after receiving the client’s instruction to commence. The pre-cast walls have been manufactured off site and delivered as and when required by our specialist sub-contractors Structherm. The bathroom pods were also prefabricated off site and deliveries co-coordinated with Structherm to ensure continuity as the building work progressed.
This has resulted in savings in time (and therefore cost) and as the site is very restricted with limited storage for material and plant, this method was by far the best option available to the project team. With no shuttering and formwork being used on site, fewer health and safety issues were raised. It has also reduced noise and traffic disruption to neighbouring properties in a predominantly residential part of Newcastle by having fewer vehicles delivering to site.”
Nick Corrigan, Contracts Manager for GB
Building Solutions