Dive Brief:
- Oklahoma is getting its first modular hotel — the 142-room Marriott-Brand AC Hotel Bricktown manufactured by Guerdon Modular Buildings and built on site in Oklahoma City by Texas hotel developer NewcrestImage, according to Building Design + Construction.
- NewcrestImage will build the ground floor of its first modular hotel via traditional methods, and then utilize 81 Guerdon-furnished modules for the rest of the five-story hotel.
- Despite the rooms being manufactured offsite, NewcrestImage said the hotel would be "indistinguishable" from other Marriott hotels. Construction is set to begin next month, with an expected June 2017 opening date.
Dive Insight:
BD+C reported that in a previous interview with Guerdon CEO Lad Dawson, Dawson dropped a hint that the company would soon be manufacturing 1,000 hotel rooms a year for a major hotel chain, and a source told them that the chain is Marriott.
Modular construction is on the rise, and, according to the Modular Building Institute (MBI), modular hotel construction in the U.S. can help the hotel industry meet increasing demand. According to the MBI, modular construction currently constitutes 3% of new commercial construction in North America but will increase to 5% over the next five years.
Guerdon's Business Development Manager Randy Duggan told Construction Dive earlier this month that construction companies are looking for ways to increase profits and reduce the length of their schedules, and many view offsite modular construction as a way to accomplish those goals. MBI Executive Director Tom Hardiman said modular building is also appealing to those who value green building, as the offsite process creates less waste, and some of the wall panel buildings can be disassembled and re-used elsewhere.
