Modular Hotel – Oxfordshire

Client

Private Developer

Services

Architecture

Team

Asher Planning

Contractors

Total Build Cost

TBC
Our client asked us to develop a modular hotel scheme for outline planning on this Brownfield car park site in Oxfordshire.

The site had been underused and was earmarked within the local plan for development, but no one had unlocked the potential for this site. The goal was a 30-year term (for use of the site) and the design brief included: 80 rooms with a generous reception, incorporating floor-to-ceiling Crittall windows and timber cladding.

Throughout the design phase, we aimed to create a building that was sustainable and modern. While being sympathetic to the local natural environment and the potential to accommodate a number of ancillary functions over and above the hotel itself. 

Modular design and construction offers many advantages: cost certainty, improved build quality, less construction waste, speed of assembly on site, and reduced disturbance for neighbouring properties.

The site had a number of constraints which informed our design. Raising the whole building and situating the parking below allowed us to ensure future flood resilience. It would also keep the limited parking local to the building.

We chose a slightly longer form for the building as this would both maximise the internal area and prevent historic views from being obscured by a taller design. It also enabled us to nestle the building within the surrounding trees.

Hotel room concepts were designed around a number of different module types. We’ve been looking at offsite manufacture and material resources for over 10 years, so we used our modular experience to create a building with the largest modules possible to reduce cost and build time on site.

We then developed the site massing and overall layout to inform the final look of the site ready for outline planning.