Up, up and away…

Four Points by Sheraton Piarco International Airport hotel is the first hospitality project in Trinidad and Tobago developed in compliance with ESG responsible investment principles

They were all there. Developers and designers STAGES Group and Urbahn Architects – the founders of Prestige Hotels Limited. Investor SEAF Caribbean SME Growth Fund. The Airports Authority of Trinidad and Tobago (AATT) and political leaders.

Each was on hand when the ground was broken for the new Four Points by Sheraton hotel and conference center at the International Airport Estates at the Piarco International Airport. Piarco, which serves the island of Trinidad, is one of two international airports in Trinidad and Tobago, as well as the primary hub and operating base for the country’s national airline, and the Caribbean’s largest airline, Caribbean Airlines.

The hotel is one for the ages. The Four Points by Sheraton will be the first hotel to operate within the grounds of one of Trinidad and Tobago’s two main airports. It also will be the first hospitality project developed in compliance with the Environmental, Social and Governance (ESG) international ethical business conduct and responsible investment standards.

The project team is unusual, as the New York City-based architect Urbahn and the Trinidad and Tobago-based construction manager and MEP engineer STAGES Group also serve as lead co-investors and co-developers.

Located just 800 feet from the airport terminal, the property offers convenience to business travelers and aircrews. The hotel will serve as the anchor tenant and first component to operate within the new 167-acre International Airport Estates, also known as the North Aviation Business Park—the Caribbean’s first Airport City. The Ministry of Tourism, Culture and the Arts— via its agency—Trinidad Tourism Limited (TTL), has granted tax and custom duty incentives for the development.

Upon its opening—which is expected in early 2025—the hotel will predominantly serve business travelers, air crews, transit passengers, tourists and guests of international and local events and conferences. The architecture of the new 154-room, four-story hotel reflects local aesthetic preferences and materials, while complying with the Four Points by Sheraton brand design standards.

“The Caribbean-specific elements will include roof canopies, rosewood exterior panels and locally sourced blue limestone finishes,” says Urbahn Principal Natale V. Baranco, AIA, LEED AP. “An outdoor dining and lounging area will also reference Trinidad and Tobago’s love of outdoor entertaining.”

Lessons Learned: Developers and Designers

Barranco says that it is unusual for the design and construction team members to also take on the role of a developer and investor. “Working on both sides of the equation has provided valuable lessons to us as both architects and developers about the financing process, project’s objectives, and how they influence the work of the design team.

For example, communicating the financial and investment aspects of a project to architects early on helps tremendously in achieving the developers’ business goals and accelerating the design process. “The obvious, and generally well understood, lesson for the architectural and engineering design teams is that the commercial buildings they create have to generate enough revenue to provide both interest payments and profit for investors,” Barranco says.

A thorough local market knowledge is critical to both owners and designers. Barranco’s experience in doing business in the Caribbean and Central America guided the project’s design. As the new hotel owners aim to attract significant local meeting, restaurant and short vacation business, a lot of effort was invested into designing public spaces that would entice the local customers used to dining, socializing and relaxing in a comfortable, luxurious environment. This is reflected in the design of the hotel’s interior public spaces and outdoor dining and bar venues and their surroundings of lush vegetation, a fountain feature and a pool, not typical amenities at an airport hotel.

“True everywhere, but especially in the Caribbean market, the value of a hotel experience to guests is in its public spaces,” Barranco says.

To accommodate the guests’ need for privacy of confidential conversations, Urbahn Architects incorporated a number of dedicated, comfortable private niches in the interior public spaces as well as private outdoor areas defined with landscaping and distanced from the bar and other crowded sections.

“One significant realization for me as both an engineering designer and a developer was how interconnected all elements of the project are and how they all influence the critical financing aspect,” says Tamarco Edwards, Deputy Chairman and Founder of STAGES Group. “AEC teams add value to projects not only through efficient, attractive and economical design, but also by supporting the developer’s financing goals and efforts in the project’s planning stage.”

Urbahn’s and STAGES’ experience in sustainable design was critical in financing the development. The project was being conceived when the pandemic struck. Hospitality real estate lost its attractiveness and unfavorable Euro exchange rates compounded the difficulties.

However, SEAF advised the team that European institutional investors, including sovereign funds, were searching for investments with significant sustainable and com- munity development aspects. The hotel’s developers adopted the ESG principles, while the design team increased the already significant sustainability and energy efficiency of the building. This allowed SEAF to attract European institutional investors to its Caribbean-focused fund and in turn provide additional equity financing for the hotel.

Edwards says another lesson was the need to be prepared for the unexpected as a developer. “While, contingency funds might historically represent 7% to 10% of a project’s budget, the pandemic has taught us that increasing it to 15% or even 20% might be necessary to overcome dramatic, unexpected regional and global events—epidemics, natural disasters, social unrest or armed conflicts. Being financially conservative and overbudgeting has allowed us to proceed with this development.”

Both Urbahn and STAGES have already applied this knowledge to other projects. STAGES currently is designing highly sustainable MEP infrastructure systems for six new Sandals resorts planned in Jamaica. The firm also incorporated similar engineering solutions to the AC Hotel Marriott in Georgetown, Guyana, which recently broke ground.

Likewise, Urbahn incorporated hospitality-influenced social spaces into new office projects at 345 Adams Street in Brooklyn, New York, and at One Centre Street in Manhattan. In addition, Barranco currently is working on a potential new multi-family residential development in Barbados that would incorporate expansive social interaction areas as well as features specifically designed to connect the project to the surrounding community.

Design and Construction Methods

The building plan is L-shaped, wrapped around the outdoor amenity and pool areas. On the first floor, a double height space extending the full depth of the building, housing the lobby and restaurant, will be framed with large windows on the east and west building facades to offer open views of the outdoor dining section, pool, and main entrance.

A 4,574-square foot conference facility and a fitness center will both be adjacent to the lobby. The food and beverage facilities will include a full-service restaurant with private and al fresco dining options and two full-service bars, including a 20-seat covered exterior pool bar. The resort-like setting of the exterior private courtyard will have a multi-depth level pool and hot tub set within beautifully landscaped surroundings of stonework and plantings.

On the second floor, a glass-enclosed bridge that will span over the double height space will connect guest rooms on either side of the lobby. “Exterior finishes mirroring the local landscape will be used for the façade, in a combination of sand and bronze toned stucco, silver aluminum composite material (ACM) panels, composite cladding in a rosewood finish, and locally sourced limestone veneer,” says Urbahn Associate Ryan E. Bieber, LEED AP.

In addition, limestone and rosewood will be featured in the lobby and restaurant, as well as at the pool and outdoor dining area.

Aluminum framework, developed by the Columbian manufacturer FORSA SA, will be used to accelerate construction of the lightweight concrete structure. STAGES Project Director Gerald Lodie says that the majority of the building will be constructed utilizing load bearing integral concrete core floor and wall units that will be standardized based on the dimensions of each guest room type. “In addition, concrete beams and columns will be utilized for larger spans and specialized spaces on the first floor.”

Engineers at FORSA used the design documents to produce customized U-shaped tunnel forms, including cutouts for doors and windows, that will enable the floors and walls to be installed as one monolithic pour. The forms can be reused for up to 100 pours, thereby reducing construction cost and allowing the builders to use them on other projects. The roof structure, as well as the canopies above street level, also will be installed utilizing the aluminum frames. The building will sit on grade, bearing on strip footing foundations.

“The FORSA technology provides a uniform, light-weight, and smooth-faced concrete structural system,” says STAGES Senior Project Manager Martinez Montrose, MCIOB. “It also accelerates the construction process, making it financially and technologically beneficial for multi-story buildings, such as the new Four Points by Sheraton hotel.”

The substantial array of photovoltaic solar panels on the building’s south-facing roof will provide energy for the hotel’s hot water system and onsite electric vehicle charging ports. CCR