Hulley & Kirkwood are delighted to have been appointed by Henry Boot Developments to collaborate with a full professional team and deliver the MEP design for this new 4-star Hilton Hotel in Aberdeen.

The hotel forms an integral part of a broader development master plan, including a commercial, leisure and hotel mix, all underpinned by the keystone new ‘The Event Complex Aberdeen’ (TECA). The development is located on the current site of the Rowett Institute in Bucksburn located to the north-west of the city and immediately adjacent the airport at Dyce.

The hotel comprises a 200 guest-room, 4-star facility constructed over a ground floor, mezzanine and four floors of guest rooms. The substantial ground floor, front-of-house offers the full suite of guest facilities commensurate with a 4-star hotel e.g. reception, health and leisure (incl. spa and pool), main restaurant, speciality restaurant, bars and a business centre. The ground floor also accommodates the main hotel administrative and back-of-house facilities.

Hulley & Kirkwood are responsible for the full technical design of the MEP services including mechanical ventilation, space heating, comfort cooling, public health, electrical power, artificial lighting, fire alarms ICT, BEMS and vertical transportation.

The project and design team have benefited immensely from the early involvement of the hotel operator (Redefine BDL) and brand (Hilton). Through regular interface meetings, design reviews and careful application of the Hilton Europe Brand Standards we have tried to ensure that the MEP design philosophy meets or exceeds the expectations of the operator / brand. 

To help ensure a collaborative and coordinated response to the client's brief, Hulley & Kirkwood, along with our fellow architectural and civil / structural professionals, have utilised 3D work in Autodesk Revit MEP.

The hotel and complimentary MEP design is influenced by some project specific, key drivers;

• BREEAM Very Good.

• Airport restrictions (lighting, radar).

• Low-carbon LTHW and CHW from district mains (site energy centre).

• Acoustic considerations (aircraft).

Gallery

Hulley and Kirkwood were engaged by our client Henry Boot Developments, then novated to Robertson Construction Group on the £350M new Exhibition & Conference Centre (AECC) Development in Aberdeen.

The MEP services element of this Design and Build Contract to deliver a 12,000-capacity bespoke Arena and a total of 61,000m? of Exhibition and Conference Space together with a 200 bed ‘full brand!’ Hilton Hotel is c.£75M in value.

Hulley and Kirkwood - led by Steve McKinley and the Project Team of Alan West and Craig McDade have exhibited full commitment and flexibility in their approach from initial concept design through to delivery of best value solutions on all fronts for the final scheme.

Their response to managing change (which included substantial Client instructed variations which followed the appointment of the venue operator) was particularly impressive and typically, while under pressure to deliver cost effective solutions they come up with excellent responses to the challenges put forward by changes in operating requirements mid Project.

We would have no hesitation in recommending Hulley and Kirkwood to design any complex mechanical and electrical installation, and Robertson will be happy to continue the good working relationship gained over several years of working together.