The Radisson SAS Waterfront Hotel – Island Construction on a new scale

The opening of the Radisson SAS Waterfront Hotel in Jersey on 1st November was the culmination of a six year project which proved to be unique, not just for Camerons but for the island as a whole.

There haven't been any purpose-built hotels constructed in Jersey for 35 years, and in that time the whole methodology of hotel construction has changed. Clearly, Camerons lacked experience in this area but this did not stop Marc Burton, now Managing Director, from putting together an aggressive tender that highlighted the company's comprehensive experience in construction management and success in delivering projects.

The developers, Jersey Waterfront Hotel Developments Ltd, understood the potential of combining Camerons' experience in Jersey with their own experience of hotel construction and once contracts were signed, a new and unique partnership formed.

Design Innovation

The Radisson SAS Waterfront Hotel is possibly Jersey's boldest building. Its striking appearance hides much of the design innovation and high quality workmanship that have created it.

Camerons was determined to make a huge success of the project which meant that they were open to new ways of working in order to maximise the benefit to the customer. The construction involved extensive use of pre-fabrication technology for the first time on such a large scale in Jersey. This made an enormous difference to costs and timescales whilst still delivering a very high finish quality.

There were 783 pre- Bell & Webster concrete panels used to make up the wing bedrooms in the hotel that had to be delivered in 281 trailer loads. It took nine men 12 weeks to erect the 166 bedrooms. Additionally, 195 bathroom pods (self contained bathroom units fully tiled, with all major appliances, fixtures and fittings pre-installed) were delivered in 40 trailers. It is estimated that the use of this innovative technology saved over a year in project time and halved the normal labour requirement on site.

Project Logistics

The first pile was driven in December 2005, four years after the start of the project, which gives some indication of the attention to detail that Camerons and the developers put into the planning stages. The project's ultimate success really was down to this extensive planning stage, which meant that all aspects of the project flowed easily once construction had started.

A lot of time was spent working out material logistics. The building contains 420 tonnes of steel, procured through Jersey Steel which was transported over from the UK and 35,000 concrete blocks that were manufactured locally and purchased from Ronez. The Bell and Webster concrete panels and bathroom pods were transported from Grantham and Newle, a major logistical exercise in itself as some of the pre- panels weigh more than 12 tonnes each. Camerons chose to keep 2 weeks' supply of Pods and Bell and Webster pre concrete materials on site, just in case bad weather or other unforeseen problems halted deliveries.

The basic idea was to ship materials so they arrived just in time for use. This meant that it was important to strike up a close partnership with Condor Logistics, the chosen shipping company, to ensure that everything went smoothly and in the event of delays, that the project team would be quickly alerted so contingency plans could be put into place.

The end result

Building in this modular fashion has advantages beyond simply the time and cost saving benefits. Hotels experience a lot of wear and tear and therefore need to be regularly maintained, the rooms have been designed so that all fixtures are easily accessible and replaceable including access to electrical and plumbing systems.

In spite of all the time and labour saving initiatives that Camerons used for the first time on the Waterfront Hotel, over 700 people from 16 different nations were still required to work on the project. Over six years, team spirit grew to the point where it was a close-knit, extremely well motivated team. This shows in the high quality of the workmanship and the service received by the developer which has led to invitations for Camerons to work on further large and prestigious hotel projects abroad. However, Camerons is dedicated to serving Jersey and has very gratefully declined these requests, preferring to use its knowledge and expertise here to even greater effect.

Fast Facts:

Radisson SAS Waterfront Hotel

-          Hotel is 32 metres high
-          407 piles were driven in the foundations
-          783 pre- concrete panels were used to construct the bedroom wings
-          35,000 concrete blocks were used in the construction
-          The surface area of the façade is 12,006 m2
-          281 trailer loads transported the pre- panels
-          The building is six storeys high
-          The hotel has 288 beds.

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