A NEW hotel is slowly taking shape in Swindon’s town centre.
Premier Inn is building its first ever all-electric hotel opposite The Savoy pub on Regent Street.
Work began on the £17 million structure in March 2022 and this new photo shows how construction is progressing nine months on.
Most of the five-storey 195-bedroom hotel, built on the derelict Aspen House site which used to be council offices, is covered in scaffolding.
Construction was expected to take 18-20 months, meaning an estimated completion date of between September and November 2023.
When finished, it will not have a connection to a natural gas supply.
Instead, the hotel will be fully heated and powered by grid energy generated from renewable sources and by on-site photovoltaic (PV) cells.
Whitbread has highlighted the importance of removing natural gas from its estate in achieving its target of net zero emissions by 2040.
UK development director Alex Flach said: “If we are to achieve our target of becoming a net-zero business by 2040 we need to find a replacement for natural gas across our estate.
“This is a considerable challenge as we rely on natural gas to heat water in our network of hotels and power many of our restaurant kitchens across the country.
“It is a bold and necessary proof of concept which has the potential to inform the specification of our newbuild hotels.”
We want our comments to be a lively and valuable part of our community – a place where readers can debate and engage with the most important local issues. The ability to comment on our stories is a privilege, not a right, however, and that privilege may be withdrawn if it is abused or misused.
Please report any comments that break our rules.
Last Updated:
Are you sure you want to delete this comment?
This website and associated newspapers adhere to the Independent Press Standards Organisation’s Editors’ Code of Practice. If you have a complaint about the editorial content which relates to inaccuracy or intrusion, then please contact the editor here. If you are dissatisfied with the response provided you can contact IPSO here
© 2001-2023. This site is part of Newsquest’s audited local newspaper network. A Gannett Company. Newsquest Media Group Ltd, 1st Floor, Chartist Tower, Upper Dock Street, Newport, Wales, NP20 1DW Registered in England & Wales | 01676637 |
Data returned from the Piano ‘meterActive/meterExpired’ callback event.
As a subscriber, you are shown 80% less display advertising when reading our articles.
Those ads you do see are predominantly from local businesses promoting local services.
These adverts enable local businesses to get in front of their target audience – the local community.
It is important that we continue to promote these adverts as our local businesses need as much support as possible during these challenging times.