The new Social Hub Glasgow symbolises an array of “firsts” and establishes Britain’s leading independent air movement supplier, Gilberts Blackpool, as a top-grade solution to creating the perfect hospitality ambience.
The four-star Social Hub Glasgow is the first community-focussed hybrid hospitality venue in the UK and the first project to be delivered as part of the Merchant City regeneration of the site which has stood derelict for 20 years. At 20000m2 and 494 bedrooms, it is also Scotland’s largest hotel.
Ventilation throughout the venue- that combines hotel and student accommodation with co-working spaces, plus bars, restaurants and a gym – is being provided by Gilberts’ grilles and diffusers. Gilberts has already in the past 18 months alone supplied ventilation delivery and extraction for the first Virgin hotel in the UK, Gleneagles’ first urban venue The Town House, and the first W Hotel in the UK.
As part of the building services package delivered by Stothers M & E for principal contractor Gilbert-Ash, Gilberts has supplied, among others, its bespoke extract PE perforated diffusers, GSR ceiling-mounted fixed blade swirl diffusers, DG square louvred face diffusers in ceiling-mounted four-way blow variant and CV-H exposed ductwork grilles.
The diverse units were chosen for their contemporary design which complimented the modern aesthetics of The Social Hub Glasgow and their suitability for the range of locations: for example, the GSR diffusers deliver high capacity supply and exhaust to cope with the high occupancy levels and thus air change requirements of the bar area, the omni-directional DGA units in the kitchen are easy to wipe clean, and the CV-H units in exposed ductwork deliver up to 70% ventilation area without any need for additional branches.
“The UK hotel industry is experiencing major growth, worth £19+billion in 2023- almost double that of 2021(1)!” says Ian Rogers, Gilberts Sales Director. “Our involvement at The Social Hub Glasgow firmly cements our reputation as the master in high-end building services’ components, with the quality of product and performance worthy of some of the top brands in the sector.”
Founded 60 years ago, and still family-owned, Gilberts is the UK’s leading independent air movement engineer. It is unique in its ability to design, manufacture and test all products- including bespoke fabrications- in-house, to the extent it even designs and manufactures its own tools at its 140,000 sq ft head office and production facility.