TFE’s ground-breaking timber hotel to open this year
When the Adina Apartment Hotel Melbourne Southbank opens later this year it will mark Australia's very first cross-laminated timber (CLT) hotel and the tallest timber adaptive-reuse project in the country.
Just six months out from opening, the striking 220-room Bates Smart-designed apartment hotel has five-star green credentials.
Its cross-laminated timber is a non-toxic, renewable resource that has a long-life cycle, is fire resistant and highly sustainable.
Around 5300 tonnes of CLT was used in the construction of the hotel, in turn offsetting around 4200 tonnes of C02 from the atmosphere, according to Julian Anderson, director at Bates Smart.
“In addition to reduced carbon emissions, cross-laminated timber incorporates several sustainability benefits, including lower transport costs and time saving advantages from off-site manufacturing,” he said. “It also presents a more sustainable approach to increasing density within our cities.”
Timber for the hotel was sourced from suppliers with Forest Stewardship Council certification - one of only two internationally recognised forest certification networks - and an electric crane was used to limit noise impact during construction. Modular bathrooms were also manufactured off-site to reduce build waste.
“To create the 220-room accommodation tower, an additional ten levels were able to be built on the existing concrete building, providing 13,000 square metres of new floor space,” said Anderson.
“This combines to make Adina Melbourne Southbank the world's tallest mass timber vertical extension.”
TFE Hotels chief operating officer Chris Sedgwick said the Adina brand continues to evolve with more hotels in the pipeline.
“Expect to see a certain ‘wow’ factor in design that will be offset by the Australian hospitality that our hotel teams will deliver,” he said. “At Adina Melbourne Southbank, the ‘wow’ will come from the innovative use of such sustainable building product, as well as the contemporary look and feel.”
In addition to the Adina's 70 Studio apartment-style hotel rooms, 140 one-bedroom and 10 two-bedroom apartments, the hotel will also feature a gym, 20 metre indoor lap pool, two light-filled meeting spaces and a boardroom.
Sheridan Randall, 27th February 2020
