ur first project at The Lowry Hotel was a refurbishment of the first- and second-floor washrooms. These facilities are in daily use, so we had to phase the works to keep them available during the day, working out of hours to deliver the project in just six weeks. It was a relatively small job but involved working around the operational needs of the hotel, minimising disruption to guests and ensuring a high standard of finish.

We then moved on to the presidential suite; the most prestigious hotel accommodation in the city. For this refurbishment and remodelling scheme, we were able to take vacant possession of the suite to deliver an extremely high-end project – including a £10K bath imported from Italy. Working collaboratively with the hotel’s team was essential because of the number of VIP guest bookings in nearby suites. Noise and dust had to be minimised at all times and if a VIP was arriving, work had to be put on hold during their stay.

After the success of these projects, we carried out the refurbishment of the reception and lobby area, using a temporary reception and acoustic screening to keep the works under wraps for a big reveal. Most recently, we’ve completed the refurbishment of the restaurant and bar, again with vacant possession, but with a business-critical handover date due to an existing booking.

We’ve now moved on to the upgrade of five suites, which, once again, entails very high standards of finish and bespoke joinery and we’ve designed the programme to allow a phased handover, optimising availability of the suites. In essence, it’s all about considering the commercial requirements of the client and taking an agile approach to dovetailing the project with those requirements.