World's tallest modular hotel to be built in New York City

Marriott International, a U.S. company that manages a large number of hotels, is planning to construct the world's tallest modular hotel in New York City.

The construction will begin in late 2019 and it is expected to be completed about a year later. The hotel will be located at 842 Sixth Avenue. It will reach a height of 110 meters and will consist of 26 stories. The structure is going to be accomplished at a total cost of $65 million. 

The modular construction is expected to last for 90 days. The hotel's 168 pre-fabricated rooms will be made in Poland and will be brought to the site including all the necessary furniture. Public rooms such as the lobby and the restaurant will be constructed traditionally, but, the roof is also expected to be built using modular construction.

According to Marriott, this attempt will inspire more firms associated with the hospitality industry to consider using modular construction methods. This form of building requires more expenses in advance but in total it is a more cost-efficient method that conventional building. 

The design of the hotel is handled by Danny Forster & Architecture. Mr. Forster explains how the conventionally made framework of the building will bear the load of the pre-fabricated parts: "The central spine of the building is a cast-in-place concrete tower that is made in New York. So the modules carry their own self-load, and the lateral load is picked up by the elevator core and stair towers. So we’re going to be casting our core progressively as the building rises. You’ll see the core go up a little bit, you’ll see some modules get stacked, and so forth. It’ll have that sort of rhythm," he stated.

Mr. Forster also comments on the benefits of using modular construction. “This is the moment where modular construction takes centre stage. This hotel takes every advantage of off-site manufacturing, as you might expect. But it does so in a way that defies expectation. We wanted to demonstrate that modular building can do more than just harness the efficiencies of the factory. It can produce a graceful and iconic tower. And yes, it can do so at the rate of an entire floor a day,” he said.

Sources: Bloomberg.com, Get.com, Interiordesign.net, Globalconstructionreview.com