Steel structure provides additional stability. From department store to design hotel.

In the heart of Rotterdam, main contractor BOBgroep is building a design hotel for hotel chain Motel One. The existing building - completed in 1954 as department store Galeries Modernes - is being transformed into a hotel with 180 rooms and a skylounge overlooking the city center.

The hotel will be located in one of the oldest streets in the center of Rotterdam, at Hoogstraat 177-179. For the transformation, most of the building was gutted, says Maikel Ouwerkerk, director of BOBgroep. "The top floor was a roof structure. That was removed and on it came two new, full floors and a new roof structure with a restaurant and terrace. From the shell, we could start building again. First of all, we brought in a large steel structure to ensure the stability of the building. The new building floors were also constructed in steel." 

On the first floor are two retail spaces, which have now been completed. Under the building is a basement that is rented out to a gym. Currently, about sixty people are working daily on the hotel. The facades have now been completed and the hotel is expected to be ready for occupancy beginning in October.    

Noise standards

The project presented some considerable challenges. Ouwerkerk: "The building was too light to put a heavy structure on it, so we started working with steel. There are also high noise standards for impact sound. Therefore, all rooms had to be acoustically separated from each other. In the detailed implementation that is quite a difficult job. Impact sound comes in through floors, walls and facades, so we had to interrupt them all. For example, the inside of the hotel has metal stud walls on acoustic battens and floating screeds. The facades are mostly aluminum, and those too are acoustically interrupted in the room partitions, both horizontally and vertically. All installations are also interrupted acoustically, including by hanging them from acoustic rules. We have a consultant who calculates all that for us. Of course, it is important that this is implemented carefully. We therefore do a lot of checks."

Reusing an existing building is in itself sustainable. In addition, the materials used are largely recyclable. Part of the facades consists of natural stone slabs mounted on an aluminum suspension structure.

BOBgroep has extensive experience in hotel construction. For example, the company previously built the Promenade hotel, Mövenpick and Hotel Des Indes in The Hague, seven easyHotels and the expansion of the Marriott hotel in Hoofddorp.

Despite all the problems caused by corona and material scarcity, the project is progressing well. "That's quite an achievement because there is scarcity of everything," Ouwerkerk said. "Fortunately, we anticipated this in time and committed important parts very early."

Improvising

Remodeling an existing building remains improvisational, Ouwerkerk knows. "We are used to that. You always come across a problem for which you have to come up with a quick solution. In this project, for example, some of the concrete structures turned out not to be in their original state. They had been poured on and were not quite up to current requirements and wishes. Some parts we therefore still had to demolish and replace, in other places we were able to reinforce this from the steel structure."

For this project, the general contractor worked in a construction team with key partners, such as installer and façade suppliers. "We involved them at an early stage, which also ensured commitment from them. After all, they also reserve time, materials and people. Rotterdam is a pleasant city to work in. People think in solutions, not in problems, and people are always willing to cooperate."