The world-famous Europa Hotel is located in the heart of Belfast City Centre and offers 272 hotel rooms. We are delivering the project as part of a major hotel refurbishment within the main tower block, and are installing Daikin VRV IV+ Heat Recovery Air Conditioning Systems to around 180 bedrooms across nine floors. Works started in November 2019 with an original programme duration of 24 months; progress slowed due to COVID restrictions with completion now due in Spring 2022.
The air conditioning systems we are installing within the hotel utilise reclaimed refrigerant which meets AHRI700 certified standards. This is verified by an independent laboratory and is the same quality as virgin refrigerant. This process reduces HFC refrigerants placed onto the market, with the manufacturers (Daikin) product range avoiding more than 250,000kg of virgin gas being produced each year, thereby reducing carbon emissions and contributing to the green economy.
Working within a functioning hotel requires close collaboration with the hotel operator, with key communication lines kept open with the construction team on site and the client. This includes noise restriction timings, phasing of work and on site liaison for access to facilities such as the single goods life which was utilised by back of house staff as well as our construction personnel.
Due to the age of the building, work is tailored from room to room with all transitional ductwork onto the supply grilles independently measured and manufactured in a bespoke fashion. For the suite bedrooms, we employed a local painter to spray the supply grilles the specific RAL colour required from the hotel operator in order to discretely match the room decoration.
With a bustling city centre location, safety was our priority. Safety management included a lifting plan and traffic management plan, enabling us to install the outdoor condensing units. These units were lifted onto the various ninth storey rooftops using a 100-tonne crane operated under a weekend evening road closure to minimise disruption and comply with Streetworks.
