Mace Group wins £70m construction management role on Cafe Royal
Media
10/07/2009
Mace Group has been awarded a £70m construction management contract for the redevelopment of Quadrant 1, the former Café Royal block, by client Alrov.
The five star boutique hotel will comprise 160 luxury bedrooms, spa facilities, health club with pool, business centre and prime Regent Street retail space at ground level. Quadrant 1 is located at the lower end of Regent Street, adjacent to Piccadilly Circus. In 2008 Israeli hotel group Alrov, secured a Building Agreement with The Crown Estate, which owns Regent Street in its entirety. Alrov will be granted a 125-year lease on completion of the hotel in March 2012.
The project will begin on site in mid-August 2009 and will reach practical completion in December 2011. The official opening of the hotel is planned for 30 March 2012.
Quadrant 1 comprises part of the The Crown Estate's Quadrant masterplan, central to the £750 million redevelopment of Regent Street, underway since 2002. The Quadrant masterplan also includes the now completed mixed use building at One Vine Street, the completed public realm improvements to Swallow Street and the redevelopment of Quadrant 3, the former Regent Palace Hotel block, which is now on site. Quadrant 3 will deliver 200,000 sq ft of offices, some 14 shops, two restaurants and nine apartments. It will complete early in 2012.
Together Quadrant 1 and 3 will improve and revive a 1 million sq ft built area and create a 44,000sq ft public realm area, including the introduction of a large new traffic free area just of Piccadilly Circus on Glasshouse Street and Sherwood Street; this will represent the most significant improvement to the quality of London's public realm seen in the West End over the last 30 years, after Trafalgar Square.
Mace operations director, Martin Childerhouse said: 'We are delighted to be appointed as construction managers on this landmark project. It will be a challenging project, combining extensive temporary works within a grade one and two listed building."
Quadrant 1 is formed from three existing buildings formally known as the Café Royal, Oddeninos Hotel and County Mark building. The public rooms of the Café Royal, which include the Grill Room, are all Grade I listed and will be preserved under the development scheme. The scope of the works includes total demolition to the Oddeninos Hotel building with a façade support system, removal of the top two floors and part demolition to the Café Royal building to create additional floor plates and form new core and riser distribution. Extensive mini-piling and foundation strengthening will be completed to support the new structure. Steel construction and concrete floors replace the central building forming a new core, light well and common floor plates for the hotel bedrooms.
Spa facilities will be located within the basement and will require extensive modifications, which must protect the special areas of interest within the Café Royal and County Mark building.
There will be five extensive fit out packages available following the base build construction to include the 160 guest rooms, spa and leisure facilities, public and back of house areas.
Mace managing director of construction management, Ian Eggers added: "This win demonstrates the depth and diversity of our business offer. I am delighted and look forward to delivering this landmark project"
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