case study
glh hotels
A prestigious hotel with a thousand bedrooms on the corner of Marble Arch and Park Lane, we were tasked by GLH to draft a ‘low-level design’ (LLD) document for the intended new IT infrastructure for the bedroom refurbishment at The Cumberland, which included fibre optic and copper telephony backbones and structured Category 6 network cabling to support WiFi, telephony and smart TV services via a comprehensive network of new IT cabinets, each equipped with smart UPS. We were awarded this extensive contract in April 2017, which then ran for more than eighteen months, finally concluding in late 2018.
As a direct consequence of our performance on this contract, we were asked to submit a second LLD document for the back-of-house and public areas at The Cumberland (catering for CCTV, corporate network and WiFi services) which is now work-in-progress and will run for much of 2019.
We had been previously asked by GLH to produce a low-level design document in 2014 for the ‘in-room’ technology at the Amba Marble Arch, which included:
We were then asked by GLH to undertake the telephony and fibre optic backbone installation, inclusive of cabinets, plus the testing and commissioning of the Category 5e cabling installed in the bedrooms by the main contractor.
We were also asked to install the full TV distribution network, including the dishes and aerial on the roof, the distribution of WF165 coaxial cables and the amplifiers and splitters in locations mirroring the IT cabinet zones. We also terminated, and signal-strength tested, the WF100 coaxial cables within the bedrooms.
Whilst we were directly contracted by GLH for this project, we worked alongside the main contractor (County Contractors) and clearly adhered to their Health and Safety requirements.
After the bedrooms were completed, the final parts of the hotel to undergo refurbishment were the public areas. Once again, we were engaged by GLH (this time via the main contractor, County Contractors) to install the Category 5e network infrastructure to support the requirements for:
We also had the challenge of setting up temporary reception desks in a couple of locations, to enable the whole area to be refurbished before the final move to the new permanent reception desk could be performed.
This was a very similar scenario to the bedroom refurbishment at the Amba Marble Arch, with NBC producing the requested LLD and then, also in 2014, installing the IT backbones, the TV distribution system and commissioning the infrastructure installed by the main contractor. Once again, NBC were contracted directly by GLH to work within the main contractor’s site.
The LLD for Charing Cross was more complex than Marble Arch, even though it was a smaller hotel, due to the presence of ornate listed staircases that could not be traversed by cable routes on certain floors.
The bedrooms in the wing were subject to a refurbishment about four years earlier and were therefore out of scope when the main block was done in 2014. It was still GLH’s intention, however, to be able to offer their guests the same ‘in-room’ technology in both parts of the hotel, as a result of which it was decided that the IT infrastructure should be installed within these bedrooms as well, outside of the main refurbishment project. Once again, NBC were invited to design and install the cabling infrastructure for these additional bedrooms.
One floor at a time was taken out of service and blocked off in the wing whilst NBC worked alongside the building contractor (who was undertaking the enabling works and making good) to facilitate the IT installation. Clearly, performing this part of the overall project within a ‘live’ hotel wing presented a different set of challenges to those encountered on the main block refurbishment.
To date, our most significant activity at The Grosvenor has been back in 2011, when we installed numerous network outlets and telephone points, served by fibre optic and copper backbones, in several public and back-of-house areas throughout the hotel, notably the basement offices, reception area, M&E area, Champagne Bar and Grand Imperial, to name but a few. This work also necessitated the supply and installation of associated cabinets and network hardware.
However, commencing in early 2018, we have produced an extensive low-level design (LLD) document for a major IT refresh to be undertaken in tandem with an extensive refurbishment programme across the hotel, covering all bedroom floors and back-of-house areas in both the main and wing buildings.
IT services covered by the refresh programme include:
...all supported by a detailed description within the LLD of the tasks and responsibilities to be performed by the main and electrical contractors to enable the provision of the new cabling infrastructure.
The first phase of this project has already been completed in the Grosvenor Arms and Tea Room and the further phases for the rest of the hotel will now follow throughout 2019.