Birmingham-based building services provider JS Wright has won a £400,000 contract to provide the mechanical services for a ground-breaking modular hotel scheme in the city’s Jewellery Quarter.
The Aston-based company is to design and install the latest energy saving heating and ventilation systems for the new Bloc Hotel to be built at Caroline Street in association with JR Pickstock and Elements Europe, part of the Oswestry-based Pickstock Group.

The 73-bed four-storey boutique hotel is being constructed on the site of the former Ashfield Motors garage using the latest sustainable construction materials and techniques. The property is scheduled to open in early 2011.

The hotel's rooms will be prefabricated offsite to reduce time, noise and disruption levels and the exterior walls will make first use within the UK hotel industry of a new style of long-lasting weather-resistant clay brickwork.

The Hectic Black facing brickwork, part of the Terca range from Wienerberger, relies on a mix of clays manufactured to traditional methods to provide a vintage look that has been specified to be in keeping with the hotel's historic surroundings.

The property's window reveals will also have metalwork flashing with a gold finish in homage to the centuries of jewellery making in the conservation area.

JS Wright will be designing and fitting variable refrigerant volume (VRV) air conditioning including rooftop plant hidden from view by screens to supply and extract air and ventilation to the building.

The system will keep the hotel at a comfortable set temperature by meeting the building's precise requirements, reducing energy costs and carbon emissions.

The company will also be plumbing all the bedrooms pod-by-pod before being assembled, enabling work on site to be completed in just weeks. The upscale rooms will include quality Italian paneling and Swedish carpeting.

JS Wright will also be fitting the gas pipework, hot and cold water services, and drainage and sanitary installations as part of the sixth-month project.