Aberdeen

An exposed 1.85 hectare greenfield site located south-east of Aberdeen Airport would become the location for a 4-Star Crowne Plaza Hotel and 3-Star Holiday Inn Express with bars, restaurants and conference facilities.

The hotel footprints are rectangular, and their façades are orientated parallel to the south and west boundaries. This arrangement provides additional shelter from the Scottish weather and allows the main entrance facades to open onto the centre of the site and to be served from the main car-park/ drop-off point.

The façade design on each building is an expression of what the materials used can achieve. There is a focus on how they meet at surfaces and corners, and how they are actually installed. This is particularly clear in the Crowne Plaza where metal panels have been folded to create deep relief texture to the main frontage

The external envelope of the two buildings has been developed to ensure each has its own character, while also complimenting each another.

The Holiday Inn Express has been developed to adopt a simple treatment using various white and grey shaded panels. The design keeps relief to a minimum in response to the acoustic conditions and proximity of the airport. Articulation and detail is expressed by creating subtle grading and tones of white and light grey with rhythmic positioning of windows across the elevations.

Varying finishes of white cladding panels have been introduced to add interest, texture and to reflect and absorb light on the facade. The corners of the building begin as solid bookends. As the elevation continues, the lighter cladding panels are introduced to create a digital raindrop effect to enliven the elevation in shades of white and light grey.