Member Article

Work starts on new Hotel Indigo

Work has now started on site to transform the Grade II listed Old Shire Hall in Durham City Centre into a stunning four-star 83-bedroom Hotel Indigo plus an 88-cover Marco Pierre White Steak House Bar and Grill , designed by leading architectural practice , Howarth Litchfield.

The development will also include a coffee shop, cocktail and champagne bar and function room which can be used for weddings, conferences and events.

Elvet Developments appointed Sunderland-based Brims Construction to undertake the refurbishment following a competitive tender, awarding the contract on the basis of the overall quality of Brims’ submission. The 50-week contract will see the project handed over before the end of the year.

Once complete, the refurbished Indigo Hotel, a boutique brand from InterContinental Hotels Group (IHG) will provide a welcome boost to this part of Old Elvet, where the Old Shire Hall, originally built as the headquarters of Durham County Council, has stood vacant since late 2012. Additionally, it will also make a substantial contribution to Durham’s attractiveness as a tourism and leisure destination.

Commenting on the contractor’s appointment, Harry Twizell, senior project manager at Brims Construction, said: “Shire Hall is a fabulous building and we are delighted to have been chosen to undertake the development and in doing so, help preserve some of its outstanding period features, whilst transforming it into a modern, contemporary hotel. “The development has presented some unique challenges; we are taking part of the existing roof off to create new bedroom space in the void and, along with this, installing the building services whilst maintaining the listed features and detailing within the hotel. It is difficult, but our knowledge and experience in dealing with such challenges is proving invaluable.”

Howarth Litchfield’s brief spans architecture, conservation architecture, interior design, building surveying and project planning.

The Howarth Litchfield interior design team is working with IHG to develop a series of modern interiors featuring the three ‘pillars’ concept, adopted by the Indigo brand and resulting in each Indigo Hotel being unique to its location. Essentially, the three pillars comprise three local influences which have played an important role in the evolution of a location and can be found within a 15-minute radius of the hotel. In the case of the Old Shire Hall they are the Cathedral and the University, which has been split down into two themes – the collegiate element, focusing on the academic side and drawing inspiration from the Great Library and colleges, together with the intellectual side of university life, which considers cosmology and the scientific discovery of the campus.

Commenting on the project, Neil Turner, director of Howarth Litchfield, said: “One of the biggest challenges, typical of working within a listed building, is to painstakingly retain the original features while upgrading the mechanical and electrical services. Brims will be drawing upon its local supply chain for this purpose to faithfully recreate cornicing, plasterwork, woodwork and so on.

“There are some fine examples of Victorian architecture within the building and we will be at pains to seamlessly blend the old with the new in translating the IHG branding throughout the interior of the building as we deliver a local interpretation of the world famous Hotel Indigo experience.”

Nick Horner, client representative, acting on behalf of developer, Shaun Crawley of Elvet Developments Ltd (EDL), added:

“The works are progressing well and we have every confidence in the project team’s ability to deliver the scheme on time and to budget so that we are fully operational in time for the Christmas season.”

http://howarthlitchfield.com/

This was posted in Bdaily's Members' News section by Sarah Bosnyak .