The Staybridge Hotel in Newcastle-upon-Tyne is a fine example of Offsite Construction in action. The 6 storey hotel was completed 2 weeks ahead of schedule due to expert planning, well managed site liaison and new product innovations. The 6 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. The building was classified as a 2B structure under Table 11 of the Building Regulations and therefore was required to have progressive collapse details designed into the structure to comply with current standards.

There were a number of reasons why the build was so far ahead of schedule, one being the partnership working between Structherm Ltd and Gateway to install the 115 bathroom pods. Through careful planning and co-ordination of delivery schedules between all parties, the initial 2 day installation period of the 23 pods per floor was reduced to 1 day per floor; a reduction of the overall schedule of 5 working days.

Duncan Stockwell of Gateway explains, “The bathroom pods that were used on the Staybridge Hotel were a quick and simple system compared to other bathroom pods. They are made from hot rolled steel as opposed to concrete making them more robust yet easier to manoeuvre into position. In fact they are so simple to install that each pod takes approximately 10 minutes to crane into final position with little adjustment needed. The pods are an excellent accompaniment to the Fastbuild system, being far quicker to install with a precast system than for example with insitu concrete systems.”

Due to the offsite nature of the Structherm 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 5 working days being shaved off the tight schedule. Yet the structural integrity of the building is unaffected, allowing the Fastbuild system to sufficiently meet the 2B progressive collapse requirement of the hotel market.

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. Due to the offsite manufacturing of the system, there is little or no wastage, leading to safe working environments for both installation crews and follow-on trades. 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.

Modern construction methods 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.

“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 pre-fabricated 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, GB Building Solutions