Room2 Southampton

Introba (formerly Elementa Consulting) was appointed to develop and design the new apart-hotel, converting an existing 1990s office building into 71 spacious studio rooms.

This project’s main challenge was understanding the previously existing systems and adapting these to suit a new type of occupant while creating increased efficiencies. With the hotel sector commonly one of the most demanding service coordination, each bedroom in room2 has been fitted with its control system, allowing guests to operate and control to achieve their optimum comfort levels. Elementa Consulting worked with the client, Lamington Group, to select intelligent, energy-efficient, and simple controls for the user. Careful consideration was given to the integration of a kitchenette in each room, understanding what affect this could have on the traditional hotel model and servicing strategy.

Throughout the project, the team maximized the benefits the building offers the client and its guests. Paramount to the client was maximizing return on investment which has been achieved through the inclusion of exposed services and mezzanine decking features in each room which has helped to maximize space in order to achieve the highest possible number of hometel keys. This was achieved through careful design and riser coordination within an existing building footprint.

Introba selected systems informed by an understanding of the many physical and psychological factors that affect human comfort based on the experience of performance, not unreflective standards. Equipment was carefully selected from an acoustic point of view so systems could run in the background discreetly. This also allowed us to keep central plant areas to a minimum.

A key focus throughout designing the developments was the creation of a new brand and brand standards for the eventual roll-out of the hometel’s throughout the country.