Winvic Construction Ltd, a leading main contractor specialising in industrial, multi-room and commercial projects, including turnkey solutions, has been awarded its first hotel contract by privately owned company, Hotel La Tour.
Located on Marlborough Gate in Central Milton Keynes, the luxury four-star hotel will comprise 261 bedrooms; a 12,900 square foot dedicated, flexible conference floor comprising adaptable meeting spaces; an external terrace and a fourteenth-floor sky bar and restaurant that will offer panoramic views over Campbell Park and beyond.
Winvic is currently on site, with works progressing at pace. Currently, drainage is being installed and reinforced concrete structures are being constructed above the half-basement and ground-floor. It is anticipated practical completion will be reached in 2022, following Winvic’s fit-out of high-quality furniture to all bedrooms and other facilities.
Winvic’s design team and pHp Architects have been working closely on the 15-storey, 50-metre-high concrete and steel framed building in the pre-construction phase for some months, utilising the 3D design capabilities of BIM Level 2.
Set to achieve a Very Good BREEAM rating, this will be the first building to meet the Exceptional Developments policy in the Central Milton Keynes Alliance Plan (CMKAP)
Complex details include extensive structural glazing and a panoramic lift which will provide a unique visual experience of Milton Keynes for people ascending to the 43-metre high top floor. In addition to the hotel’s restaurant and bar, there will be a public access space called See:MK.
The four large conference rooms of varying sizes can be converted into a single generous space, which also opens onto a roof terrace. This terrace will be constructed to a high load bearing specification – to enable it to take the weight of a car, for example – so it can be used for events and press launches. Five further private meeting rooms are also located on the conference floor.
While the split-tower form is minimal, Hotel La Tour’s exterior will be an attention-grabbing vision from its location at the highest point of the city. The rainscreen cladding will have a stainless steel, mirror finish, and a 30-metre diameter stainless steel circle with a satin finish will dominate the east facing façade. This will be illuminated with a bespoke projected LED installation at night to form both a focal point on Midsummer Boulevard and a gateway sign to the city centre.
A large sculpture, Cycloidal Form by Keith McCarter, will be installed adjacent to the entrance, where a canopy structure extends to the drop-off point, emulating the city-wide porte-cocheres.
Winvic’s Director of Multi-room, Mark Jones, said: “We are naturally very proud to have been awarded our first hotel contract by Hotel La Tour, and our experience of constructing extremely high-quality, build-to-rent and student accommodation schemes means we are well placed to deliver this exciting project. “Partnership work behind the scenes to date has been efficient, particularly due to taking advantage of the end-to-end benefits BIM has to offer, and with architects pHp we are truly illustrating cost and resource savings by investing in this approach. We are looking forward to seeing the mirror-finished Hotel La Tour take shape on Milton Keynes’ skyline through next year ready for a 2022 opening.”
Jane Riley, Operations Director at Hotel La Tour, added: “‘We are very excited to be working with Winvic on the construction of Hotel La Tour Milton Keynes. The team at Winvic share our vision of bringing luxury accommodation and modern conference facilities to the heart of Milton Keynes. Hotel La Tour has a long-term interest in the growing success of Milton Keynes’ economy and this investment demonstrates our confidence in its strength.”
Will Elsigood, Associate Architect at pHp, said: “It’s not every day you get to work on a building located at the highest point of a city, so the hotel’s visibility from surrounding areas and its ability to provide panoramic views for residents, conference users and the public were key in the design. An extensive stakeholder consultation process has resulted in many exciting practical and aesthetically striking design features. Hotel La Tour and Winvic have been instrumental in the design reaching RIBA Stage 3/4 and ensuring the quality expected of the building from the CMKAP Exceptional Developments policy is achieved, whilst also utilising the benefits of 3D BIM Level 2 processes
See www.hotel-latourmiltonkeynes.co.uk for more details on the hotelier, Hotel La Tour.
For more information on Winvic, the company’s latest project news and job vacancies visit www.winvic.co.uk Join Winvic on social media – visit Twitter @WinvicLtd – and LinkedIn
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