The O2 Arena has become one of the top concert venues in Europe, with established acts such as the Rolling Stones and Queen gracing the stage in the past several years. However, its uses are not just limited to entertainment purposes – business shows, political party conferences and international sporting showcases have all played a role in reshaping the site which once housed the Millennium Dome.
Earlier this month, it was announced that the site will further benefit from a lucrative £121 million deal to create a state-of-the-art hotel, leisure and apartment complex. Balfour Beatty was awarded the contract which is expected to bring further prosperity to the North Greenwich Peninsula.
The scheme will comprise of two tower buildings in which 452 hotel rooms and 100 serviced apartments will be situated. However, the contract also tasks Balfour Beatty with creating a combination of hard and soft landscaping work designed to create VIP access to the O2 Arena itself.
Yet this project will not simply be a run of the mill construction process as it aims to provide a high standard of environmental awareness. The bathrooms for both hotel rooms and apartment suites will be constructed off-site and reassembled in the existing buildings as this reduces the amount of time required on-site and also cuts carbon emissions through fewer lorry trips during transportation.
The hotel itself, meanwhile, will utilise new technologies such as photovoltaic panels to reduce energy consumption and rainwater harvesting to cut waste water from the mains supply. These measures will allow the 18 storey building to boast a BREEAM “Excellent” rating.
Chief Executive Officer of Balfour Beatty, Andrew McNaughton, spoke of his excitement at the opportunities presented by such an eco-friendly project.
He said; “We are delighted to see that our customers are eager to embrace sustainable best practice to develop a scheme that will help promote UK trade and investment, and welcome the opportunity to apply the sustainable construction methods we have been developing as part of our complex building offering.”
Work will begin this summer, and the hotel will open its doors to guests at some point in 2015. Hopefully, this development will allow the O2 Arena to further increase in prosperity and usher in a bright future for the UK’s sustainable construction industry.
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