New ECO Hotel with Rainwater Harvesting for East Midlands Airport
A new £22 million eco-friendly hotel at East Midlands Airport which will create 150 jobs has been given the 'Green' light.
On 19th July 2010, officials involved in the project gathered at the site at Pegasus Business Park, near the Castle Donington airport, for a ceremony in which they signed one of the steel beams, which will be used in the construction of the building.
Once completed the four-star hotel will have 218 bedrooms, a restaurant, bar, and health suite, including a pool, sauna, steam rooms and gym.
The property will can also accommodate conferences for more than 300 people.
The firm behind the project is MAG Developments, the property and development arm of the Manchester Airports Group, which runs East Midlands Airport.
Work on the hotel by Bowmer and Kirkland began six weeks ago and it aims to be open by summer next year.
The "beam signing" ceremony was attended by officials from the firm, along with representatives from the airport, the National Forest Company and North West Leicestershire District Council.
The hotel, which will be about 15 metres tall, is being billed as one of the greenest in the region.
It will include a number of features which will mean it will produce 87% less carbon emissions than conventional hotels.
They include rainwater harvesting, which will be used for things like flushing toilets.
It will also have a combined heat and power generator powered by plant oil and motion sensitive lighting.
Penny Coates, managing director of East Midlands Airport, said: "There is a strong demand for this type of accommodation so I'm confident that it will be successful.
"It also fits right in with our aim of making all of our ground operations carbon-neutral by 2012."
Councillor Nigel Smith, chairman of North West Leicestershire District Council, said: "We're really delighted that this project will bring new jobs to the area.
"We're also very pleased with the design. We wanted to see something that would stand the test of time and reflect the local area and I think this has been achieved."
The design of the hotel includes an aviation-inspired canopy and will also have timber features to reflect the fact that the property is sited at the gateway of the National Forest, which covers parts of Derbyshire, Leicestershire and Staffordshire.
Sophie Churchill, of the National Forest Company, who attended the ceremony, said: "There are a lot of clever energy-saving techniques, which I'd be keen to see included in a lot of future developments."
