HDR will design a mass timber Ramada Hotel

A new 82-suite, 12-story mass timber Ramada Hotel is set to rise in Kelowna, British Columbia in a space that is currently surface parking. 

HDR will provide architectural design services for the project, which takes advantage of British Columbia’s new regulations allowing mass timber construction up to 12 stories. The tower will be built using partial encapsulation and exposed CLT, as well as glulam.

The hotel is divided between facade articulation and material treatments, distinguishing street-level retail amenities, the hotel’s main lobby, and the two penthouse suites, which are recessed from the main suite block on the west elevation. A glass projection will be part of the facade and will capture common space on each floor for guests to socialize while also showcasing the mass timber design and construction.

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As part of Kelowna’s green initiatives, the proposed development will provide four on-site vehicle charging stations, short-term and long-term bicycle parking, and a generous landscape buffer on all sides.

The completed hotel will provide three different suite typologies with access via a single-loaded corridor, day-lit from north to south. Construction is slated to begin in 2021.