Bristol Airport in the UK is getting its first hotel, with its rooms and hallways pre-manufactured in China and shipped to site for slotting into place.
The 201-room hotel is financed and owned by CIMC Group, the $12bn-turnover Chinese plc, and will be managed by Hilton Worldwide, which said the modular prefabrication technique avoids problems associated with conventional construction.
Artist’s render of the completed hotel (CIMC MBS)
Under its cut-price "Hampton by Hilton" brand, the hotel will open in the fourth quarter of this year and have flexible meeting spaces, a 24-hour fitness room, parking for 120 cars, complimentary WiFi, and Hampton’s "On the House" hot breakfast.
Bristol is just the first site for a new Hilton-CIMC partnership aimed at building hotels using CIMC cash and modular-building know-how. The alliance was announced just after the final modular unit was installed at Bristol.
"CIMC’s capacity to deliver modular sections of the building to the final hotel site offers an incredible opportunity to overcome many of the challenges faced during construction," said Patrick Fitzgibbon, senior vice president, development, Europe & Africa, Hilton Worldwide, in a press notice.
"Alongside potential time and cost efficiencies, CIMC’s ability to provide senior debt to developers using its modular building technique underpins its robust growth model, and we are seeing more and more opportunity for this structure in mature markets such as the UK, and developing economies, most notably in Africa."
Karen Liu, head of CIMC’s modular division, CIMC MBS, said they would start building more hotels this year in Europe, the Middle East and Africa.
Bristol saw record passenger volumes last year when 6.7 million people passed through its terminal, making it the UK’s ninth busiest passenger airport.
It was also named the UK’s most punctual airport for the second year running, in a league table measuring on-time performance based on data compiled from over 43 million flight records by aviation data provider, OAG.
Photograph: Rooms and hallways are prefabricated in China and shipped to site for Bristol Airport’s first hotel (Bristol Airport)
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Is this a sign of the times? A Chinese owned finance company using a Chinese (modular construction) supplier in the construction of a Hotel at Bristol airport. It is a shame that our very capable modular suppliers in UK are not involved in this project. Were they invited to tender?
I’ve been hearing, reading and discussing how modular construction has to be the way forward for the UK since I first studied building at Sheffield Polytechnic. I’m now retired, and the UK building industry is still mulling it over – and at a time when we need mass housing at a low price NOW! I despair.
I would agree with last comment, started college, modular and men in white coat was the way forward, what are you doing here. I now retired and nothing has changed, other than the standards of construction have dropped, the Scottish Schools is the latest example. It’s time we woke up and moved forward as a industry
What happened to the environmental issues with the unnecessary shipping of materials from other countries.