Dakota Hotel

Built for Simons Developments and the emerging Dakota hotel chain in 2004, the original scheme proved that the principle of co-locating high quality hotel accommodation and serviced office environments was commercially and logistically viable.

Cardiff-based Rio Architects, which designed this new breed of business facility, was then asked by property investment company Tritax to adapt its design for the Eurocentral development adjacent to the M8 between Glasgow and Edinburgh.

The resulting building is a six storey, 92-bed hotel with a glazed link to an adjacent 14,000m2 office development. Clad in an iconic black envelope, the hotel strikes a beguiling image: a careful balance of glass and pre-finished steel from Corus, the building is composed of surfaces which appear deeper than they actually are including the pre-finished steel cladding which has achieved this successfully by the use of the chosen Colorcoat Prisma® colour choice of Kronos. Indeed, the architects say the form of the hotel is an adaptation of the “black box”, while the interior of the building is deliberately different - once inside, visitors find that the precision and machine-like qualities of the building envelope wrap around an interior of colour, texture and natural materials.

A glazed element links the hotel with the three-storey office complex, now leased to serviced office specialists Innovate. This office building combines black (“Kronos” in Corus’ colour palette) with Silver, emphasising the difference between the two components of this development.

Clad in Colorcoat Prisma®, the pre-finished steel with the Galvalloy® substrate which maximises corrosion resistance and cut-edge protection, these buildings also benefit from the Corus Confidex® Guarantee that ensures a maintenance-free period of up 25 years. Furthermore, this steel envelope forms the oute layer of the Stratascreen and Stratatherm composite rainscreen and insulation panels, also from Corus, which are protected by the company’s Platinum Warranty to cover installation and structural integrity for 12 years.

“The building looks absolutely fantastic,” says Rio Architects’ director Richard Roberts, who worked closely with contractor Dawn Construction on this design-and-build project.

The hotel offers the same winning formula as the building completed in Nottingham - five storeys of air-conditioned bedrooms, and a ground floor comprising guest facilities, meeting rooms, restaurant and gymnasium. The hotel is large and well-equipped enough to serve around 300 people. The hotel and office building, completed in 2006, have each been leased to their operators for 26 years.

The hotel is composed of surfaces which appear deeper than they actually are, which is achieved by the use of Colorcoat Prisma® in Kronos.

“The building looks absolutely fantastic”.
Richard Roberts, Rio Architects.