Project Spotlight - Hilton Garden Inn, Doncaster Racecourse
A 154-room hotel with a range of hospitality facilities, a conferencing suite and a 1st floor terrace, the Hilton Garden Inn at Doncaster Racecourse references local architecture and, thanks to Shackerley’s SureClad® ceramic granite ventilated facade system, it also answers the loading requirements of a lightweight structure.
KKA Architecture designed the building and was keen to develop a design that is both stylish and timeless, with clean lines and interesting design features. The design intent was for the race course elevation to be a largely dark, with creamy-coloured cladding and columns at ground floor level, along with a creamy stone-like finish on the rear elevation.
The variety of colourways and finishes available within the Shackerley SureClad® ceramic granite range meant that the architect could meet the aesthetic requirements of the project creating an impression of natural stone, while answering the need for a lightweight facade solution. Large format 1198 x 598mm SureClad panels were used in both vertical and horizontal orientation, delivering striking visual appeal without compromising the loading restrictions on the structural frame. The natural cream finish of Shackerley’s ‘Lopar’ range, with its distinctive grain, contrasts with a highly-polished black ceramic granite that complements the curtain-walled elevation facing the racecourse.
Alex Geddes from KKA Architecture commented: “The Shackerley ‘Lopar’ range of ceramic granite with its natural cream finish and subtle graining provides a fantastic alternative to natural stone, offering us the design flexibility to create strikingly different facades for the front, rear and side elevations.
“The building was designed as a thermally-efficient, lightweight structure, so we needed a facade solution that would provide all the high-end finish and aesthetic appeal of natural stone with the loading and buildability benefits of a lightweight, slim-profiled system.”
The Hilton Garden Inn at Doncaster Racecourse is the 8th Hilton-branded hotel to be specified with SureClad® facades in the UK.
