A year ago work started on the new Hampton by Hilton, on a cramped site in central Croydon. With an original target opening date of September this year the operators, Croydon Hotels, recently announced the opening date would be in January 2012.
The new opening date reflects the times, as the main contractor has had to be replaced , apparently after cash flow problems caused the previous contractor to cease trading. In June of this year work on the site came to a complete standstill, with the £11.5million build almost ready to be topped out. Work resumed in August when a new contractor, Ardmore, was appointed.
The project is on a 30metres by 30metres site, previously part of the footprint of a carefully demolished office block. On an adjacent part of the site another contractor is creating 56 units of supported housing for the single homeless, both projects making extensive use of offsite construction. I have watched as everything from bathroom pods to prefabricated walls and staircases have been delivered to the cramped site by lorry (the housing units are coming in almost completely prefabricated).
Traffic management and disruption has been kept to a remarkably low level first by the original contractor (Bowens) and then by their replacement Ardmore. Indeed the most difficulty was incurred by the use of a mobile crane to install the key component in the construction, the site crane, and will be matched by road closures for its removal.
The Hampton by Hilton development consists of an 11 storey hotel. The hotel has 120 bedrooms located on the 3rd to 10th floors inclusive. The building foot-print takes up the greater majority of the site area. There is minimal landscaping area proposed at the front of the building, disabled car parking at the front of the building and a small car holding area at the rear of the building. A covered roadway passes under /though the building at ground floor level to allow vehicles gain access to the rear of the hotel directly from Dingwall Road.
• Ground floor – main entrance, public areas, WC, kitchen, breakfast area, reception, and lift
lobbies.
• First floor – kitchen, banqueting, lift lobbies and WC.
• Second floor – Offices, lift lobbies and WC.
• Third floor to Eleventh floor inclusive – 15no bedrooms on each floor and single lift lobby
I think it’s a shame that plant has to occupy the top floor exclusively as from the 12th floor meeting or function rooms would have stunning views (this has been done at the Croydon Holiday Inn Expresspreviously reviewed, with great success). Location is less than 300 metres from East Croydon Station, with 20 trains an hour making the 16minute journey into central London, and easy access to the Tramlink service for Wimbledon as well as buses.
Hilton are accepting reservations for the new hotel from 1st February 2012.
©Words and Pictures Patrick Goff
November 2011
