Case Study: Cedar Court Grand Hotel - York
"Working in a Grade II listed building is always challenging especially taking into account the scale of the refurbishment and the quality of the finish required in a 5-star Hotel." John Bulger, Senior Project Manager, ISG technology	Cedar Court Hotels is Yorkshire’s largest independent hotelier, with four very successful four-star properties in Harrogate, Huddersfield/Halifax, Leeds/ Bradford and Wakefield. But in 2009, the Company purchased the iconic North Eastern Railways Headquarters in York, one of the great railway buildings of England, with the ambition of turning it into a luxury hotel. The result is Cedar Court Grand Hotel &	Spa, which opened in May 2010. This historic building, which won an architectural award in 1904, has been carefully restored to retain all of the original features whilst integrating the facilities and style of a luxury property.    Cedar Court Hotels has worked closely with the AA, and it is hoped that when it receives its rating later this year (2011) it will become York’s first five star hotel.
The Challenge
Unique challenges exist within every project, especially when working on a Grade II listed building. ISG technology has a wealth of experience working on listed buildings gained from many high profile installations including Westminster Abbey, Customs House and English Heritage hence ISG technology was able to apply this experience to The Cedar Court Grand Hotel. ISG technology was chosen to work directly for Cedar Court Hotels,  providing a  full  design  and  installation  service working in conjunction with the building	and electrical contractors to deliver a solution within budget, with future flexibility which allowed for a phased installation approach throughout the building.   To maintain the character of the building and to provide the desired finish, it was decided that all services within the bedrooms would be chased into the walls, therefore removing the need for surface mounted skirting trunking. Using this method provides a better final finish but it restricts the future installation of cables	within the rooms, therefore ISG technology worked with Cedar Court Hotels’ design team to ensure that sufficient outlets were installed to serve the current and future needs of each guest. In addition, the cabling in each room needed to be installed in two phases. The installation needed to be in sequence with the building program before the walls were re-plastered.
Solutions Delivered
ISG technology designed and installed the infrastructure to support the telephone, data, WiFi, television, audio and CCTV networks throughout all areas of the hotel. The solution provided the hotel with a flexible, future proof installation that takes into account their particular IT infrastructure needs while fitting in with constraints of a Grade II listed building and the desire for a luxurious five-star finish to all areas of the building.	ISG technology worked diligently to complete the two scheduled phases on time and to enable all of the other trades on site to continue working to their programme. ISG technology created a consolidation box design, allowing rooms and floors to be completed in any sequence without being dependent upon the other trades or other areas of the building. This enabled ISG technology to be flexible and to work around the other trades allowing progress on site to continue unrestricted.	"ISG technology provided an infrastructure design that suited the building as well as the technical brief. One of ISG technology’s Project Managers ensured that the project ran smoothly and to schedule." John  Horvath, Group Hotel Director, Cedar Court
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