£10m hotel scheme on the up in Sheffield

The 161-bed Holiday Inn Express hotel, on Blonk Street, in Sheffield, is being constructed by JF Finnegan for hotelier Hermann Beck of Amber Hotels.

The design of the hotel will link it with the nearby Holiday Inn Victoria Hotel, which is also owned by Amber, via the Royal Victoria listed archways, creating a greater capacity to host large conferences.

The preparatory works to the foundations and ground floor transfer deck have been completed and construction is now underway on the seven-storey, pre-cast concrete framework at a rate of a new floor approximately every 10 days in a modular form of repetitive construction.

Upon completion of each floor, JF Finnegan, based in Sheffield, is installing high-specification bathroom "pods", which were designed as part of the "new generation" Holiday Inn Express brand.

Towards the end of the year, once the framework is complete, work will begin on the envelope and roof of the building which will be clad in a blend of stone panelling that has been hand-selected by Mr Beck.

Dawa Singh, design and build manager for JF Finnegan, said: "Work is progressing at a rapid rate on site and we are well on our way to delivering the framework of this exciting project. The initial installation of the 161 pods is currently under way and we are on track for our scheduled completion date of late July 2011."

The Holiday Inn Express Hotel will be the third JF Finnegan has brought to South Yorkshire following construction of the Ibis Hotel, on Shude Hill, and Sheffield Park Hotel.

Mr Beck, director of Amber Hotels, said: "We are delighted with the smooth progression of works on site and it is wonderful to see the hotel framework rising at such a quick rate. JF Finnegan's expertise in the hotel arena is really coming into play and we look forward to seeing the hotel brought to life."

A pedestrian walkway will be created linking the Wicker and Five Weirs Walk, adjacent to the hotel, through the Royal Victoria listed archways and into the Sheffield Canal Basin.The hotel will open four years later than planned. The delay was caused partly by the recession and also by two archaeological digs.