Mott MacDonald has completed the design for the refurbishment and expansion of Harlech Castle Hotel in Wales, UK on behalf of Cadw, the Welsh Government’s historic environment service. The development is one of 24 schemes to benefit from Cadw’s £19 million Heritage Tourism Project, funded by the European Regional Development Fund through the Welsh Government.The project includes a new state-of-the-art visitor centre, café and interpretation and presentation areas, as well as luxury apartments on the upper floors of the hotel and a landmark pedestrian bridge link to the castle.
Mott MacDonald carried out the full civil and structural detailed design of the hotel refurbishment and developed the footbridge design. Building information modelling (BIM) was used to plan the design of the complicated split level building profile and associated interconnections between the new building and the existing historic structural remains.
Hycinth Hettiarachchi, Mott MacDonald’s project manager, said: “We have worked closely and collaboratively with Cadw over a number of months to reach this stage of the project. The use of BIM was helpful in developing the various design iterations during the development stage and seamlessly integrating the designs from the various disciplines involved.”
The hotel is located in the Harlech conservation area adjacent to the Grade I listed Harlech Castle, a scheduled ancient monument which forms part of the Castles and Town Walls of King Edward in Gwynedd World Heritage Site. The castle is recognised by the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation as one of the finest examples of late 13th to early 14th century military architecture in Europe.
Construction has begun on site and works are expected to be completed by the end of 2014.
