Contractor Clegg Construction has completed, on behalf of CBRE Investment Management, a new Premier Inn hotel in York.

The highly sustainable, four-storey development has been built in the shadow of York’s ancient city walls.

It brings 188 new bedrooms to the historic city centre, on a corner plot fronting Foss Islands Road and Layerthorpe at a junction of the city’s inner ring road, and will create approximately 55 new jobs.

Built for CBRE Investment Management and Whitbread PLC, the Premier Inn hotel features some of the latest energy-saving and carbon-reduction technologies, such as air source heat pumps, heat recovery ventilation systems, LED lighting, photovoltaic panels and electric car charging points, and has achieved an Energy Performance Certificate (EPC) rating of A.

The building has been designed to achieve a carbon reduction of 44% compared with traditional construction methods – far surpassing City of York Council’s 28% carbon reduction requirements.

Clegg Construction Managing Director Michael Sims said: “We are tremendously proud to have delivered such a sustainable Premier Inn hotel for CBRE Investment Management and Whitbread PLC.

“The site is a historically sensitive city centre location in York and I am delighted with how the Clegg Construction team conducted themselves with minimal disruption to local businesses and residents. The scheme consistently achieved high Considerate Constructors Scheme scores in audits taken throughout the duration of the contract.

“More than 80% of the workforce travelled 30 miles or less per day to reach the site – demonstrating our commitment to supporting the local community and to sustainability.

“This marks the latest in a long line of hotels that we have delivered across the country, and the fourth Premier Inn scheme that we have been involved in. As a company, Clegg Construction is very happy to have now handed over this new development which I am sure will be an asset to York and its tourism and business communities, along with the local economy.”

During the build, Clegg Construction worked with Community Wood Recycling who collected wood waste from the site. It is estimated that saved 20 tonnes of CO2. Some 44% of the waste wood was reused by the community for DIY, building or made into a range of products from bird boxes to dining tables, and the remainder  was sent for recycling to be made into woodchip, animal bedding or as carbon neutral fuel in power stations.

Other members of the construction team included project manager Reach Project Management, quantity surveyor Create.iF, architect The Harris Partnership, structural engineer Simpson Associates, and M&E consultant Thornley and Lumb.

Fund Manager for UK Property PAIF at CBRE Investment Management, Jamie Philips, said: “We expect growth in the hotels and catering sector to outpace the wider economy during the next five years.

“Tourism supports a significant number of jobs in York and given the strength of the city as a destination for tourists, combined with its current undersupply of hotel beds, the addition of a new modern and sustainable hotel will help to bolster York’s businesses and economy. This project sits firmly within the Fund’s strategy, providing a great opportunity to thoughtfully invest in and repurpose an existing asset, in order to create a long and sustainable cash flow for our investors.”

The development marks the fourth Premier Inn scheme delivered by Clegg Construction and follows the construction of a Derby city centre hotel, the full conversion of a former office building in Headingley in Leeds into a 96-bedroom hotel, plus the complete re-cladding of the Leeds City Centre hotel (also known as the Leeds Arena hotel).

Clegg Construction is a Midlands, East Anglia, and Yorkshire-based construction firm specialising in the delivery of public and private sector projects.

The company works with organisations of all sizes and specialities across a range of different sectors.

For more information visit www.cleggconstruction.co.uk