The modular method is set to save the group up to £10m a year

Travelodge has come up with a new type of modular construction – building hotels with modified shipping containers.

Each container is fitted into the steel frame of the building, bolted together and stacked up to eight stories. The containers are modified in China then shipped to the UK.

Once the building is cladded and the modules fitted and decorated, the budget hotel chain claims it will look and feel no different to an ordinary Travelodge.

The first hotel to be built in this way, in Uxbridge, will be completed in June with 120 bedrooms over eight floors.

Travelodge reckons building with shipping containers will cut 10% of the build cost for each hotel and improve construction speed by 25% - adding up to potential savings of £10m a year.

Contractor George & Harding says the construction method could be equally effective for student accommodation and urban housing.

Mark Allies, managing director of George & Harding, said: “The modules are cost effective yet durable, easily transported, stackable and reusable and make absolute sense for businesses like Travelodge.”

Travelodge aims to build 670 hotels in the UK, Ireland and Spain before 2020.

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