Offsite modular specialist Elements Europe has landed a £100m deal to build a hotel and office scheme in Hackney, London.
The development is located on East Road and will feature a 17-storey modular hotel build, constructed in a volumetric fashion, which means that large chunks of factory-produced elements will be assembled on site. The property will be a four-star hotel operated by the German low-cost brand Motel One. Below the hotel will be five storeys of office space.
The project will be funded by the investment manager UBS Asset Management Real Estate & Private Markets. The development partners are the London-based BSW Land and Property, and Pickstock Group, which founded Elements Europe.
The modular build will lead to less embodied carbon than a typical construction scheme, and potentially lower levels of waste and noise; the aim for the office floors, initially, is to achieve a BREEAM ‘excellent’ certificate.
Elements Europe chief executive Simon Underwood said: “The environmental aspects of this scheme are important to us as a business and are another example of how the industry can continue to modernise for our sustainable future.”
Elements Europe, based in Telford, sold a share of its business to South Korea-based GS E&C in 2020, which delivers more than 25,000 homes per year in South Korea. The rest of Elements Europe is owned by Pickstock Group, which founded the firm 17 years ago.
The modular business specialises in offsite construction from its Midlands factory, including the manufacture of bathroom pod systems for contractors such as John Sisk and Robert McAlpine. The company turned over £14m in 2020 and £23m in 2019.