ibis Styles hotel & Marco Pierre White restaurant (Leeds)

OVERVIEW

The latest addition to the rapidly developing Arena Quarter in Leeds by Town Centre Securities sees a 134-bed ibis Styles hotel and a Marco Pierre White New York Italian Restaurant at the Merrion Centre. We were appointed by GMI Construction to provide full design and build mechanical and electrical services.

CHALLENGE

The hotel was a refurbishment project requiring us to work within the existing building’s structure and make services fit the footprint of the existing rooms and wall partitions. Due to the challenges this posed, we placed added emphasis on the coordination of the project from the outset, spending significant time in the early stages to create accurate designs to ensure a right first time approach.

An example of this can be seen in the added time we allowed for plant equipment to be transported to the hotel’s roof. A crane facility was not viable due to the busy city centre location; the site is also part of the Merrion Shopping Centre with a high footfall of pedestrians seven days a week.

SOLUTION

As such, we factored in to the timings of the scheme the need to disassemble the plant equipment and hoist it to the roof in parts before reassembling it. This required a great deal of organisation from a delivery perspective because access and storage was very limited. Whereas a crane lift would have taken just one day to transport the plant on to the roof, the hoist system took three weeks and far more manpower.

We also successfully negotiated the limited access and storage at the site through extensive and ongoing liaison with the contractor. When we booked in deliveries for equipment we needed to be sure the overall works programme for the scheme was on course so the materials could be installed immediately upon delivery. Electrically, we installed and powered lighting, access controls, CCTV, music systems, fire alarms and television access controls. A large scale BMS controls all services.

The mechanical works comprised of air conditioning to all rooms, a heat recovery unit, air handling units and the installation of full sanitary ware in each bathroom as pods were not used. We also provided all M&E services for Marco Pierre White’s 80-cover New York Italian Restaurant across 4,000sq ft, ensuring all work was completed in advance of the planned opening. Specialist offsite gas pipe welding by G&H Fabrication provided bespoke parts, saving time and freeing precious space on site.

RESULTS

All mechanical and electrical services were successfully delivered within the constraints of a complex refurbishment project in a high-traffic city centre location. Despite limited access, restricted storage, and the inability to use cranes, the project was completed on time. The hotel and Marco Pierre White’s New York Italian Restaurant were both fully operational ahead of their scheduled openings. Bespoke offsite fabrication streamlined installation, while careful planning and coordination ensured a high-quality finish that met the client’s expectations.