Refurb Projects July 2018

PROJECTS
New Concept 3 star hotel, 3DReid's £2.7
million Edinburgh refurbishment
has completed a
£2.7m refurbishment of
3DReid
a former student
residence to create a three star, 45
room hotel for Edinburgh First, the
commercial arm of the University of
Edinburgh.
Working within the confines of
the existing student room structure,
KM Central offers a quirky ‘left
bank' style interior concept with
3DReid's design making use of all
the available space to create
comfortable and well equipped
bedrooms and a breakfast room that
doubles as a post graduate student
common room.
Italian large format concrete
effect floor tiles were the starting
point for the feel of the space,
manifesting itself in industrial style
features such as exposed ceilings
and iron effect wall coverings. A
lighter, more quirky and fun feel was
brought in with an eclectic mix of
materials, textures and furniture.
Bright bursts of colour within the
fixed joinery elements and furniture
softened the industrial feel.
Hundreds of postcards, riveted metal
plates, and wire pigeon hole boxes
created a variety of feature
wallpapers, with wooden pallets
forming the public bathroom
ceilings and OSB rough boards,
‘branded' with their delivery
information, formed the WC
cubicles.
The breakfast room, Circa, is also
the post graduate student common
room, performing as a dining space
for the hotel guests in the morning,
and a study and relaxation space for
the rest of the day. This allowed a
mix of different furniture types,
from traditional dining style tables
and chairs to communal high table
seating areas with power sockets for
charging phones and laptops.
The exposed ceilings and
industrial materials opened up the
space, maximising the natural light.
In conjunction with the client, the
team decided to use furniture rather
than fixed screens or acoustic
baffles to improve the acoustics.
3DReid's design introduced high
backed sofas and chairs (for group
or single study) and three booth
seats which featured TVs and
upholstered banquette seating
running up and over the ceiling.
Explains Scott Torrance, Head of
Interiors at 3DReid: "In the
bedrooms, the compact space,
18sqm, was a challenge and we had
to use a series of techniques to
make the rooms feel light and airy.
In some rooms, we made best use of
the floor space by having super king
size beds which fitted into three
corners of the room, under the
window. The headboard also
wrapped around three sides so the
client could sleep any way around."
Randomly coloured chairs add a
zesty note in the bedrooms, along
with various Edinburgh-themed wall
murals with different colourways.
The bathrooms feature small sized
tiles and a wall to ceiling mirror to
reflect light back around the room.
An integrated vanity unit gives a
sleek finish and a sliding feature
door finishes the look.
Concludes Scott: "The key to the
success of the project was the
rebranding and repositioning of the
spaces within a commercial
hospitality offering, as well as
increasing the flexibility of the
breakfasting room. The space now
operates 24 hours, serving hotel
guest breakfast, whilst
accommodating students for single
or group study, workshops and
satellite learning."
www.3dreid.com
36 JULY 2018, REFURBISHMENT PROJECTS