Case Studies: Hotels

Corinthia Hotel, Northumberland Avenue, London

This building, on the junction of Northumberland Avenue and Whitehall Place, in the heart of London had been constructed in the 1880s as The Metropole Hotel. It had subsequently been used as offices during the first and second world wars, and had been retained as offices by the MOD. Spectrum were involved from the very early stages of the conversion of the building back to hotel use, with a design intent to retain as much of the existing listed building as possible. We advised on noise ingress, internal sound insulation, room finishes and building services noise, looking to designs that accommodated the many listed features of the building. On conclusion of the project, we conducted extensive acoustic commissioning tests on the site, and went on to assist International Hotel Investments PLC develop their Corinthia Acoustic Brand Standards to apply to their luxury hotels around the world.

Premier Inn, Broad Street, Birmingham

One of a number of Premier Inn projects Spectrum has been appointed on. The challenge was to ensure requirements of Building Regulations for sound insulation were achieved, along with client standards for intrusive external noise. Others at Kettering, Rugby, Northwich, Halifax and Paddington London.

Great Northern Hotel, Kings Cross, London

This railway hotel, next to King’s Cross St Station had been derelict for some time, and Spectrum were instructed to provide a full acoustic consultancy service to assist with the restoration of the building to a boutique hotel. We spent some time addressing the facade design, needing to retain listed windows whilst also achieve a high standard of sound insulation to keep the noise from Euston Road, Pancras Road and the station itself out of the guest rooms. We also advised on sound insulation and buildings services noise control. We conducted commissioning measurements at the project’s conclusion, against UK Building Regulations, as well as BREEAM.

Shangri-La Hotel, The Shard, London

Chorus took over responsibility for the fit-out of levels 34 to 52 of architect Renzo Piano’s The Shard, as the Shangri-La hotel’s first UK location. The inherited fit-out was incomplete, and Spectrum were commissioned primarily to assist with the development of the sound insulation between guest rooms. We reviewed the inherited design and installation, issued recommendations on how best to complete the work (taking account of extensive tricky junction details with the non-standard external facade) and, on completion of the works, conducted acoustic tests for compliance with Shangri-La’s brand standards as well as UK Building Regulations.

Ibis Hotel, Ealing

This West London hotel is positioned on the busy Uxbridge Road, and includes large feature glazing. Spectrum were commissioned to provide an acoustic design review, taking account of local regulations (planning, building control) as well as Accor (Ibis) brand standards. We assisted the architects, Darling Associates, to develop the requirements of the external facade of the building, as well as internal sound insulation and criteria for building services noise.