We delivered the refurbishment and transformation of the Holiday Inn London – Shepperton. This included the launch of the new In the Wings Restaurant, Bar and Terrace, re-designed welcome areas, and the introduction of Storyboard at Shepperton, a new aspirational and contemporary events destination.
We undertook the works over two phases, to enable the hotel to remain operational, whilst minimising disruption to guests and staff. The first phase included structural modifications, including the removal of the existing canopy, the removal of redundant plant and the internal strip-out of front and back of house areas with the formation of a new reception area. The second phase was the reinstatement and fit-out of the front and back of house spaces to form new conference, banqueting, restaurant and kitchen areas. In addition we created the new external seating space with landscaping, car park amendments and the repositioning of the secondary entrance and entrance road. The external façade was completely remodelled with full height glazing and enhancement of the façade.
Key challenges generally sat around the delivery period as we were in the height of Covid 19. What should have been a fast track project was delayed slightly in parts as procurement of materials was at times disrupted. MS Teams meetings was the order of the day, with the Client, Design Team and ourselves coming together on a frequent basis to make key decisions. With the hotel sitting adjacent to a basin of the Thames, groundworks at times were problematic and a one-in-a-hundred year downpour caused major flooding problems. Despite these issues, the usual G F Holding can-do, proactive approach delivered the project to the Client’s satisfaction to allow them to relaunch the hotel as a major hotel, conference and wedding venue at the height of the summer 2021.
