A sustainable (and rather unusual) hotel is to be built at Bristol Airport, according to news website Hotel Designs. The building, alleged to be the hub’s first dedicated hotel, is being developed by London-based firm EPR Architects, the scribblers behind the Rose Bowl Cricket Ground, Hampshire, and ITV’s Granada Studios in Manchester.
The structure, once complete, will stand within a short walk of the airport’s main terminal, providing travellers with unrivalled access to the UK’s ninth largest hub. The hotel’s day-to-day operation will be handled by Pederson Hotels, a company that owns similar accommodation in Sheffield and Reading.
Arranged into two ‘wings’, the hotel is H-shaped and has its own dedicated parking zone to the west of the building. The as-yet-unnamed structure will be built from materials which prevent the loss of heat and energy to the cold outside the walls. Current plans will allow a maximum of 251 guests on 3 or 4 floors.
“The hotel has been designed to have a strong horizontal emphasis with colour used to articulate the form,” explains Hotel Designs. In layman’s terms, the building has colourful stripes. The architects hope that the stripy exterior will distinguish it from the ‘office block’ style of many new budget hotels.
A restaurant and bar installed adjacent to the main reception area will delight hungry guests, while three meeting rooms will allow business types to discuss the latest pie chart over a hot projector. The hotel will be fronted by a "landscaped area” complete with a path that leads to the terminal doors.
The development will help officials at Bristol Airport achieve their collective dream of 10 million passengers a year by 2020, a goal that is supported by a controversial £150m expansion due to get underway in the coming months.