Construction is well under way at the former site of the Wessex Hotel in Bournemouth, where a new hotel and apartments are being built to keep up with demand.
Positive progress has been made on the underground car park, with the first phase of the development by award-winning housebuilder Inland Homes delivering a new 105-room Premier Inn hotel, designed to meet the demand for much-needed tourist accommodation.
The development is set in a prominent location on the popular West Cliff Road, a stone’s throw from Bournemouth’s iconic cliff top with views of the seafront.
Two apartment blocks will also be built, with all three buildings reaching up to five storeys high, and designed to complement the character of other buildings in Bournemouth featuring white render facades and feature band detail.
Finished to a high specification with designer interiors, 88 premium one, two and three-bedroom apartments will be available for private sale, including access to secure underground parking, and large expanses of landscaped green spaces and lawned areas for residents to enjoy.
Vicki Noon, Sales and Marketing Director at Inland Homes, said: “Inland is proud to be delivering the redevelopment of the former Wessex Hotel, which will form an integral part of the regeneration of Bournemouth.
“This development has all the attributes that will make it a great place to live, combining high quality homes and a hotel facility within an attractive coastal setting.
“We are excited for the local residents of Bournemouth to see the next stage of the development progress.”
Community
Children from St Michael’s CofE Primary School, Bournemouth, were recently invited to don their safety gear and join the construction team on site, in an effort to get the local community involved and for the students to learn about site safety.
The Year 3 children were introduced to Ivor Goodsite, the construction industry’s safety mascot, who explained the dangers of construction sites and told the children how exciting it is to work in the industry, and then taken on a tour around the site putting the safety skills they had just learnt into practice.
Amber Ingham, Year 3 teacher at St Michael’s CofE Primary School, said: “My team and I were so impressed with the lengths that the West Cliff Road site team went to in order to accommodate all of the children on our visit.
“The set up was so engaging and every child had a fantastic time. The children enjoyed learning about Ivor Goodsite, and the event cleverly highlighted the importance of safety in a child friendly setting.
“The children have been so inspired since the trip, that many of them have expressed how much they would like to be operatives working on a site in the future!”
The Wessex Hotel was originally build in 1891 under the name Hawthorns Hotel, before changing its name at the beginning of the 1960s. It was the regular venue of the Wessex Dance Club for 27 years, and was the home of Bournemouth’s second biggest ballroom, under Bournemouth’s Pavilion Theatre, before it closed in 2016.
Bournemouth’s vibrant city centre is only a short walk away from the new development, where you can find a host of leisure, entertainment, culture and travel facilities, and it is in a prime location for excellent road connections such as the A338/A31, with quick links to Dorchester, Salisbury and surrounding areas.