Extension of DoubleTree by Hilton Cambridge

DoubleTree by Hilton Cambridge, is located in the centre of Cambridge on the River Cam, with 11 meeting and event rooms, accommodating up to 220 guests, as well as outdoor gardens; the hotel hosts many private events and weddings.

As part of the 3325sqm comprehensive project to enhance the hotel, R G Carter has built a third floor extension to the South wing of the hotel, creating 16 spacious new bedrooms, increasing the total guest room count to 138. We also carried out works to the existing rooms, consisting of window replacements, building over cladding and updating the balconies with new entrance doors, tiles and balustrading.

We constructed on top of the hotel’s flat roof, but first reduced the existing reinforced concrete parapet, to enable the extension to be constructed.

The structural steel was delivered to site in small quantities and fabricated at ground level before being lifted into place, as vehicle access to the hotel was very limited and narrow. The lift in turn required a 120 tonne crane to travel down the same narrow entrance road, which required temporary protection and several back up crews to ensure success delivery of the machinery and the safety of existing neighbouring buildings and services. Other restrictions included those implemented on noise and working hours due to work being carried out on the hotel, which was open for business throughout the enhancement.

We offered our client several value engineering options at tender stage, including alternative sanitary ware, light fittings and boiler systems, and also offered the client savings by using an alternative built up cladding system which provided quicker installation.