B&B Guimarães

Guimarães, Portugal

This is a unique project, and is the first timber-hybrid construction of its kind on the Iberian Peninsula. The project consists of two separate blocks: one is a hotel for the B&B Hotels Group; the other is an apartment block with 44 apartments. The structure consists of a combined podium in reinforced concrete, supporting two 4-storey CREE buildings overtop. The a total floor area is 7,200m2 (77,500 sq.ft.), where the CREE system is around 4,100m2 (44,000 sq.ft.).. The CREE floor panels span 6.3m and 8.1m respectively. An interior steel girder along one side of the corridor picks up these floor slabs. The girder is flush with the floor system to avoid any downstands. The perimeter columns are exposed glulam and integrated into the façade panels. These façade panels were fully prefabricated in the shop, allowing for a quick and reliable installation of the system. Once the floor panels were in place, the building was weatherproof and protected from rain – allowing the follow-up trades to commence their work much faster than compared to a traditional approach.

Aspect provided structural engineering services as well as the shop drawing and installation package for the entire CREE system – hybrid floor slabs, steel girders and columns, and prefabricated light wood frame façade panels.

Construction photos courtesy of Grupo Casais and CREE

ClientB&B HotelsArchitectMário FernandesBuilderGrupo CasaisStatusCompleted, 2023