Our eco-designed
hotel
The first hybrid building of the Iberian Peninsula
Why
As we continue to grow and adapt to our changing environments, we want to ensure, and demonstrate, that our actions lead to real change. Even though we mostly take over existing hotels, when we do build new hotels from the ground up, we set the bar high for ourselves and all the other companies involved.
To build our B&B HOTEL in Guimarães we worked closely with our partners to assess and manage our environmental impacts. Our goal was not only to minimise harm but also to adopt a circular economy philosophy by prioritising reusable materials. This project resulted from a collaborative effort between designers, builders and several partner companies, which contributed with solutions to meet our sustainability criteria.
What we achieved
Our B&B HOTEL in Guimarães, Portugal, is the first hybrid building of the Iberian Peninsula based on the CREE system. It was designed by the Portuguese architect Mário Fernandes.
Benefits of the CREE system:
- 60% CO2 savings: The hotel’s wood and concrete hybrid composition allowed us to reduce the carbon footprint of its construction by more than 60%.
- 33% material savings: The hotel’s structure only required 1/3 of the concrete of a traditional building.
The hotel’s construction process relied heavily on hybrid standardised prefabricated individual components (such as roof panels, façades, pillars etc.) to reduce carbon emissions, waste, noise and dust, while saving time and resources. Its structure features engineered wood – a natural carbon sink and renewable raw material. We went the extra mile and adopted a circular economy mindset by considering the materials’ lifecycle to facilitate repurposing.
This project paved the way for a new sustainable building in a neighbouring country: Spain. A new hotel is under construction in Tres Cantos, Madrid. It will be the first hybrid building of its kind in Spain.
This project was based on the CREE system for sustainable large-scale buildings
We partnered with a local CREE-licensed construction company
What’s next
50%
of the hotel’s materials will be reusable at the end of their life cycle
Spain
We are replicating this building system in Spain to build a sustainable hybrid hotel in Madrid