The modular wood Eklo Hotel in Marne-La-Vallée, France, wins the SIMI Grand Prize for real estate services to companies and individuals

A next-generation, affordable hotel that combines economic performance with environmental ambition

Located near Disneyland^® Paris, the Villages Nature^® resort and the Val d’Europe shopping centre, this new Eklo Hotel designed by the Patriarche architectural firm, targets business and leisure guests. With an emphasis on social interaction, the brand offers a hybrid and atypical range of large communal spaces designed by Studio Janréji, offering comfort, environmental performance and economic efficiency all at once. The hotel has various types of accommodation – classic rooms, family rooms, dormitories, studios and even a flat – to accommodate business travellers, as well as tourists, whether they are travelling as a couple, with friends or with family. A restaurant offers homemade food that promotes local produce, a grocery shop remains open around the clock, and a communal kitchen allows guests to dine freely if they wish. Local residents and workers can also come to work, hold a meeting, eat and drink.

A modular wood hotel operation

In search of sustainable and responsible constructive solutions, the teams at Eklo Hotels sought out GA Smart Building well in advance. Through its unique approach and know-how, GA Smart Building committed to a winning co-design. The operation was carried out in partnership with Ossabois, a specialist in modular wood construction and a subsidiary of GA.

Wooden modules built in the factory… and delivered ready-to-use on-site

The Eklo Hotel in Marne-la-Vallée includes 90 modules totalling 108 guest rooms. Produced in the Ossabois factory in the Vosges, these wooden modules were fully equipped in the workshop: bathroom, lighting, heating, plumbing, electricity, desk, headboard, etc. Once on-site, the modules were assembled and seamlessly connected to the networks located at the back of the modules in a dedicated technical area. The rooms were then finalised on-site with the addition of some extra decorative elements and bedding.

In addition to the significant reduction in construction time inherent in modular construction, the management of the FF&E (Furniture, Fixtures & Equipment) component in the factory greatly facilitated site management. All in all, and taking into account the delay due to the Covid-19 health crisis, it would take the GA Smart Building teams only 10 months to complete this 108-room hotel. In just three weeks, the 90 Ossabois modules were installed on the site. GA Smart Building supervised the project and took care of the exterior finishing, including the cladding and roofing of the building.

Environmental performance for comfort

Eklo Hotels and GA Smart Building share a common goal: to build and operate responsibly and sustainably. The Eklo Hotel in Serris is therefore both stylish and environmentally friendly. In addition to its wooden structure, it incorporates a number of virtuous features: photovoltaic panels allowing the production of electricity used for self-consumption; control of energy and water consumption in partnership with Betterfly Tourism’s software solutions, which allow efficient monitoring and a guaranteed sustainable approach; control of air quality with adapted materials labelled A+ with regard to the “indoor air emissions” label, efficient air renewal, waste recovery, etc.
The project is also part of Omnes Capital’s “Construction Energie Plus” fund, the first French fund dedicated to the construction of high-performance environmental buildings using modular wood construction and a large proportion of bio-sourced materials. The approach is designed to anticipate future thermal regulations while preserving the economic performance of the assets financed (cost of works, level of rent offered, user comfort).

The group of investors is composed of OMNES CAPITAL, CDC and EKLO.