citizenM is a Dutch-based hotel company offering affordable luxury hotels that embraces an international style. citizenM’s facades are typically comprised of large glass window cladding with metal exterior walls in their design. This style lends itself to modular construction, where units or sections of the building are made off-site at a manufacturer’s facility and then shipped to the site for installation.
We see a few key benefits from the practice of modular construction:
- Saves time – for this project, we are projecting to shave five months off the schedule when compared with traditional methods
- Increases safety since each unit is built in a controlled environment in the manufacturer’s warehouse as compared to working on-site where the setting is less predictable
- Provides more quality control due to the repetition of unit types
- Limits raw material waste through a more accurate plan for inventory use
Three team members will temporarily relocate to the manufacturer’s site to integrate with the manufacturer’s team to provide easier coordination, ensure quality and keep track of any issues that may affect construction. We will also have the opportunity to see a full mock-up unit built and sign off on it before beginning construction on the rest of the units.
Our team has also spent time collaborating with citizenM to review lessons learned from previous modular projects to help us address potential challenges before they arise. citizenM is proud to be an early adopter of modular construction and, likewise, we are pleased to partner with them on this groundbreaking technique for the DC metro area and our industry. We believe the industry is headed towards more modular construction, with an expected growth rate of 6.9% by 2023, and the citizenM NoMa Hotel in DC is an opportunity to be at the forefront.
