London & South East

145 guests will spend the night in the cells

Maurice Drummond The GreenwichThe transformation of Maurice Drummond House into a 145-bed boutique hotel is well underway.  

Named after Sir Maurice Charles Andrew Drummond (1877-1957), a British soldier and a senior officer of the Metropolitan Police, the original eight storey building was built in the 1930s as accommodation for police officers. The project will see an additional two storeys added at roof level and complete internal refurbishment, along with minor landscaping.

Principal contractor Rees Mellish Ltd and architects Assael Architecture are carrying out the ÂŁ7.5m project for Periquin Limited, with a scheduled completion date of May 2012.

The project began in September 2010 and several phases are now complete. These include: asbestos removal, major structural alterations, first fix mechanical and electrical works, first fixing internal partitions and new external windows. In addition, the external brick work has been cleaned and the initial stages of steel work for the roof top extension have been completed.

As part of the planning approval, a contribution was made to the local authority to refurbish the public space in the centre of the square in front of the building, whilst the building itself also has hard and soft landscaping to the sides and the rear.

Stephen Willmore, Assael Architects, said: “The original building had become redundant and had suffered from vandalism over the years. This was an exciting opportunity to refurbish, renovate and reuse an existing building. We have also been lucky enough to work with an imaginative client and enthusiastic project and construction managers that have helped to move the project forward.

“It is always interesting to work with an existing building as there is something there to respond to. We were very fortunate that the local authority and the client were forward looking enough to allow a very clean, contemporary and modern extension for the building, which has created an interesting combination of the old and the new.

“Of course there have been some constraints – there are always difficulties involved with working in an existing building, and the construction team are working on a relatively tight site in a residential area. However, the contractors have all performed magnificently and everyone is extremely pleased with how the project is progressing.

“Essentially what we’re looking at is an old building in a state of disrepair, which has been brought back into use and re-established as a local landmark, hopefully in time for the Olympic Games in 2012.”

Mark Rees and David Mellish, Rees Mellish Ltd, added: “This is a very interesting project. The new hotel will completely change the use of the building, creating a landmark building for the area and giving the 1930s building a more contemporary, modern feel.”

The hotel is one of several new hotel developments planned for Greenwich. A 90 room Travelodge is due to open soon at Deptford’s Deals Gateway, with another planned for the former Greenwich Industrial Estate and a third at the former Co-op building in Powis Street, Woolwich.

Earlier this year, Greenwich Market’s developers won an appeal to construct a large hotel in King William Walk and the owners of Bar du Musee and Greenwich Clipper Hairdressers in Nelson Road have applied to convert the Grade II listed buildings’ upper floors into a 21 bedroom boutique hotel.

Rees Mellish Ltd

Rees Mellish is a progressive and innovative concept in the provision of project and construction consultancy. They provide their clients with extensive personal contact at principal level, with interaction at all stages of the project and a service that is tailored to suit specific, individual client needs.

The company provides innovative construction and property solutions through sound expertise and resources complemented by in-depth regional knowledge and experience.

Rees Mellish aim to gain a full understanding of their clients’ business objectives in relation to service provided in order to deliver a positive, proactive, resourceful and progressive solution to meet their clients’ needs.

Assael Architects

Assael Architects have a responsive, flexible approach to design and continuously strive to innovate in everything that they do. The company work to achieve design solutions that continue to build on their reputation for tenacity, innovation and quality.

As part of their overall philosophy, they aim to make informed, environmentally aware choices not only in the running of their business, but also in the creation of sustainable buildings and communities.

The company has achieved accreditation under ISO 9001 and are working towards an Integrated Management System incorporating ISO 14001 environmental management and operational Health & Safety OHSAS 18001.

SW ROOFING SOLUTIONS

Based in Battersea, South London, SW Roofing Solutions was set up by director Andrew Collier to provide the best flat roofing technology to both the commercial and domestic markets.

With over 15 years’ experience in the domestic and commercial arena, SW Roofing Solutions are ideally placed to offer a wide variety of products from various manufacturers to provide total roofing solutions using top quality products.

For the Greenwich project, the company worked as a sub contractor for Rees Mellish Ltd and were responsible for the installation of approx 2500 m2 of Alwitra Evalon membrane across various roof areas.  This included installing vcl, insulation and membrane to multiple roof areas at The Greenwich.

As members of the NFRC, they are certified and trained installers for Alwitra, Sarnafil, Protan and Kemper single ply systems. They also specialise in Green Roofs as well as PV Solar installations along with bespoke aluminium fabrication.

SW Roofing have worked on both large public sector projects down to small domestic design and build projects and can offer specialist advice and solutions across a wide variety of quality roofing products.

Their office is open 5 days a week and they have built up a reputation for being one of the most competitive and reliable firms in the business.


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Roma Publications