Bringing Modular Design to Hotels

Menno Hilberts, Managing Project Director at Citizen M, visited with The Voice of B2B, Daniel Litwin, to discuss modular buildings in the hospitality industry.  

Modular buildings have been used in numerous industries with great success, but their utilization in hospitality is still in its infancy. Hilberts explained that there have been successes in the hospitality industry and now modular buildings are starting to gain traction.

Litwin asked, “What is it about the hospitality industry that hasn’t quite embraced this strategy yet?” Hilberts explained, “It’s the fragmentation of the whole chain.”  The disconnect among owners, brand managers, operators, architects, and contractors has created a situation that is far from streamlined.  “Everyone looks at it from a different vantage point.”

“What we’ve been doing in construction is quite archaic,” stated Hilberts.  Mainstream techniques have elevated risks in both time and cost.  Modular thinking tackles these long-standing challenges and can esure “certainty of cost, certainty of time, and certainty of quality.”

Litwin and Hilberts also discuss how the trend towards sustainable buildings correlates to usage of modular construction.  “The upside in terms of sustainability for modular construction are significant,” said Hilberts. He explained that construction sites are inherently wasteful and how the method of modular construction minimizes the generation of waste while also promoting excellent energy performance.

The pair then discussed the implementation of modular construction for the New York Bowery Hotel, the tallest modular hotel to date.  They analyzed the successes as well as the opportunities for improvement on future modular constructions.

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