The hotel was part of a wider mixed-use scheme including a municipal carpark, superstore and drive-through restaurant. The brownfield site was technically challenging as it was constrained by Network Rail Boundaries, access difficulties, new highway works, a relic nuclear bunker, listed boundary structures and flooding issues.
The project comprised the reclamation of a brownfield site that had previously housed a food cold store that was subsequently converted into a nuclear bunker. A 30,000ft2 retail food store, drivethrough restaurant and hotel were constructed, along with a 170 space municipal carpark to serve the adjacent town centre and signicant highway improvements. A number of construction teqniques were utilised across the development with the hotel being constructed in light gauge steel (LGS). Earthworks were designed to utilise cement and lime stabilisation to reduce the import of stone, minimising off-site vehicle movements and the need for quarried materials, enhancing sustainability.
The relic structures of the nuclear bunker required investigation and Portland prescribed investigation works to de-risk the project and allow the requisite backfilling and ground inprovements to be specified. In order to minimise the risk of settlent of the backfilled basement areas, fill utilising cement/lime stabilisation was devised.
The site suffered from a risk of flooding due to overland flows originating from higher land. In order to satisfy the Environment Agency and the LLFA the potential volume of water was estimated by Portland and an above ground reservoir facility designed into the carpark levels scheme to ensure that the overland floods could be incorpirated without increasing risk off-site.
A complicated S278 process was navigated by Portland by detailed negotiations with the adopting authority in order to deliver significant improvements to the existing overcapacity at the site entrance.
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