Caledonian bathroom pods, launched less than a year ago by offsite construction specialists Caledonian Modular, are bucking the trend in the building sector with strong sales, particularly in the hotel market. The company’s high specification bathroom pods are fast becoming the preferred choice for some of the world’s leading hotel groups. Pods designed and manufactured to individual brand standards in Caledonian’s quality-assured UK production facilities are providing a hassle-free solution for main contractors and their clients, contributing to faster completion on site and enabling new and extended hotels to open for business much sooner.

Over 200 bathroom pods for Holiday Inn Express projects in the south east of England have already been completed by Caledonian, and further orders from the hotel chain are anticipated. In addition to Holiday Inn Express, which is part of the worldwide InterContinental Hotels Group, Caledonian has built prototype pods for global hotel brands such as Hampton Inn by Hilton, Tune Hotels and Courtyard by Marriott, which are scheduled to go into production shortly.

Bathroom pods supplied to Holiday Inn Express were for extensions to the Wimbledon South and Earls Court hotels in London, and for a new 122-bed hotel in Harlow, Essex. Caledonian’s team worked closely with the main contractors on each project to coordinate factory build programmes and pod deliveries with on-site construction schedules.

Pods are manufactured offsite to the hotel’s pre-approved specification and delivered complete with sanitary ware, wall and floor tiles, and with electrical and plumbing fixings ready for connection. Designed to be craned directly from the delivery vehicle onto the building frame the pods are manoeuvred into their final position, floor by floor. Once main services are connected to the service riser the pods can be commissioned at a time to suit the contractor’s schedule.

Chris Gornall, Regional Surveyor for Bowmer and Kirkland, main contractor for the new four-storey Holiday Inn Express in Harlow, says bathroom pods offer significant speed and quality benefits over traditional on-site installation. He explains: “Pods eliminate the problems associated with several different trades trying to work alongside each other in a small space. This can be a logistical nightmare, especially when you’ve got over 100 hotel bathrooms to install. Caledonian’s ability to deliver high quality pods to a tight timescale in Harlow helped us to achieve an accelerated build programme for our client at no additional cost.”

Willmott Dixon Interiors’ Operations Manager, Paul Goldsworthy, says Caledonian’s factory-produced bathroom pods offered a quick and convenient solution with first class quality control for an extension to the Holiday Inn Express at Wimbledon South. He comments: “Caledonian provided an excellent product and service package and they were flexible in accommodating any last minute programme changes due to bad weather, for example. We couldn’t have asked for more and would certainly use Caledonian bathroom pods again.”

Summing up, Jayne Gray, Director of Caledonian Bathroom Pods, says orders for the new range of complete, ready-to-connect bathrooms have exceeded expectations. “Our success in such a short time justifies Caledonian’s significant investment in the new pod production lines and demonstrates the team’s ability to deliver cost-effective, quality-assured solutions for all kinds of high volume accommodation projects.”

Caledonian bathroom pods are manufactured utilising a welded hollow section steel frame which can be designed to bespoke sizes and differing floor depths to suit individual contract specifications. To find out more or to arrange a visit to Caledonian’s Operating Centre, please go to the website.