A new hotel, Quality Hotel Arlanda XPO, has been operating in Arlandastad, next to Stockholm Arlanda Airport, since the start of the year. Ruukki supplied the Ruukki® Primo cladding system used in the hotel façade, the coated steel in the window frames and the color-coated, perforated steel window covers. Once seen, the hotel sticks in the mind.

“We wanted to make the new building an eye catcher. The building had to attract attention but not for its multicolor appearance but for its interesting Scandinavian look, which features suitably used natural materials,” says Jakob Ahlqvist, project manager at Explore Arlandastad, about the criteria placed on the appearance of the building.

Demand for conference hotel at Arlanda

Arlandastad is around 45 km to the northeast if Stockholm and is an ideal place for a hotel providing accommodation and conference services. The company Explore Arlandastad owns the hotel, which was built adjacent to an existing hotel. A practical requirement for the new building was that it should be suitable for accommodation and conference use. The new hotel has 205 rooms and doubles accommodation availability at Arlanda.

“Together with the Nordic Choice chain, we built a hotel to a concept that includes conferences and events. Customers have a possible to choose a level of service that suits their needs, from a meeting room for a full-service conference or book just a room,” says Jakob Ahlqvist.

In line with contemporary requirements, the hotel has applied for an Excellent rating BREEAM environment certificate.

Primo façade for a challenging design

LIAB Plåtbyggarna was responsible for the installation of the façade in the construction contract that began in autumn 2019. Jakob Ahlqvist says that the contractor’s excellent façade competence was highly instrumental in being able to complete the special design. The installation company suggested a number of alternative suppliers, from which Ruukki was chosen.

“Once we learned about Ruukki’s new Primo cladding system, we became interested and wanted to try it in our new building project,” says Tomas Ericsson, Project manager at LIAB Plåtbyggarna.

Tomas Ericsson also says that creating the façade according to the architect’s design was unusual and challenging to build since the many elements in the façade incline in different directions.

“The idea was to create a landmark and eye catcher, which is a Nordic building. We succeeded. When we weighed up the product, price and quality, Ruukki’s product was the best. We are delighted that the project went as well as it did,” enthuses Jakob Ahlqvist at Explore Arlandastad.

Combined effect of confidence and competence

The building definitely has to be seen, even a photo of it, to get an idea of the façade and its forms. Jakob Ahlqvist says that practically everyone who has seen the building considers it to have been successful. The developer, Explore Arlandastad, had full confidence in the contractor’s ability to create the façade.

“Without their knowhow, we wouldn’t have been able to find such a good alternative. This was really a super difficult façade to create and required millimeter-precision design, since it was not an off-the-peg solution,” says Jakob Ahlqvist.

Tomas Ericsson, project manager at the installation company, says that cooperation with Martin Eriksson at Ruukki was incredibly smooth and this was why Ruukki was chosen to supply the façade.

Both Jakob Ahlqvist and Tomas Ericsson say that they have heard only positive comments about the appearance of the hotel and are themselves very pleased with the outcome.