Zeal Hotel Exeter

Project:                        Zeal Hotel, Exeter    
Sector:                         Hotels    
Client:                           Zeal Hotels   
Main Contractor:         Red Construction South West  
Architect:                      ECE Westworks  
Pod Type:                     Enhanced GRP pods   
Number of pods:         134 shower pods  

The Project

Due to open in 2024, this new net zero carbon hotel is targeting a BREEAM ‘outstanding’ rating and will feature co-working space, meeting rooms, restaurant, bar, gym, gardens, and EV charging points.

This £700,000 contract is our third project for Zeal Hotels. It follows an increase in demand for bathroom pods for the hospitality sector and our successful delivery of two earlier pod contracts for the Ibis Plaza Hotel and Holiday Inn Express in Bridgwater, Somerset, which were also developed by Zeal Hotels.

The Bathroom Pod Solution

This is the first application of a new GRP ‘horizontal stack bond metro’ tile-effect bathroom pod finish that we have recently developed and launched.

134 bespoke GRP shower pods will be sustainably manufactured and fitted out offsite in controlled factory conditions. The finished bathrooms will then be installed on site in just a few hours. This approach will reduce construction waste through more efficient use of materials. Quality will also be superior and more consistent with offsite manufacturing.

The Customer Perspective

Tony Clark, Director of Zeal Hotels:

“Sustainability was the main driver for our specification of GRP bathroom pods because of the recyclability properties of GRP. We have worked closely with the Offsite Solutions team to develop a carbon reducing solution for the bathrooms. The use of pods will also radically reduce traffic to site and optimise materials to cut waste.”

“There are clear quality and programme benefits of manufacturing the bathrooms offsite. The Offsite Solutions team are proactive, collaborative, have performed on every Zeal project, and are committed to the sustainability agenda.”

Collaboration with Zeal at Design Stage

Our design team collaborated with Zeal to develop the contemporary bathrooms for the new Exeter hotel.

The shower rooms will have a 1300mm shower with sliding glass door, thermostatic shower on a sliding rail, and a modern metal box frame to support a solid surface vanity top, counter-top rectangular hand basin and integral towel rail.

There will also be a back-lit rectangular mirror with integrated demister pad, wall hung toilet with white solid surface vanity shelf above, towel shelf, LED lighting, and an acoustic vinyl floor in sun-bleached oak. The bespoke metal work for the vanity box frame and towel rails will have a striking grey-green metal finish.


Low Maintenance Tile-effect Finishes

Each ensuite shower room will feature two GRP tile-effect finishes in matt white – a new horizontal stack bond metro design on the bottom half of the walls with a 350mm square tile-effect above.

The tile-effect finishes are integral to the pods and remove the need for grout and tiles to the wet areas. This means the pods will be much easier to clean and maintain over the life of the bathrooms – an important benefit for hotel operators – whilst having a contemporary and high-quality aesthetic.

Why Demand for Pods in the Hospitality Sector is Increasing

Modular bathroom pods are an ideal solution for hotels which tend to have aesthetically identical bathrooms that are ideal for manufacturing offsite.

The pods are delivered to site as finished bathrooms, having been fully fitted out and tested before leaving the factory. The quality of finish is enhanced in a production line environment and by reducing work on site, pods contribute to a faster build programme and ROI for the hotel developer.