Pan Pacific Hotels Group Pushes Sustainability Agenda with its PARKROYAL COLLECTION hotels

Singapore, 21 June 2021 – Pan Pacific Hotels Group is pushing the sustainability agenda with its PARKROYAL COLLECTION hotels. The newly renovated PARKROYAL COLLECTION Marina Bay has earned the highest accolade, “5-star Best Hotel Interior”, at the International Property Awards 2021, with its transformational design strongly anchored in sustainability.

Opened on 1 December 2020 after a nine-month transformation, PARKROYAL COLLECTION Marina Bay joins the ranks of its sister hotel, PARKROYAL COLLECTION Pickering, which has been consistently awarded for its green design. It has been named “World’s Leading Green City Hotel” and “Asia’s Leading Green City Hotel” at the World Travel Awards and “HICAP Sustainable Hotel” in 2020.

Both PARKROYAL COLLECTION hotels breathe biophilic design. PARKROYAL COLLECTION Marina Bay—Singapore’s first “garden-in-a-hotel”—has 2,400 plants indoors, and PARKROYAL COLLECTION Pickering features 15,000 square metres of vertical gardens, which is equal to 200% of its gross floor area, earning its title as a “hotel-in-a-garden” since it opened almost a decade ago.

The PARKROYAL COLLECTION hotels incorporate energy-saving and energy-generating features, including solar panels, double-glazed glass, motion sensors and food digestors to help reduce waste. PARKROYAL COLLECTION Marina Bay also has water-filtered taps in guestrooms, which is estimated to save 360,000 plastic bottles a year, while PARKROYAL COLLECTION Pickering has a rain-water harvesting system which collects 6,000 cubic metres of water a year to irrigate the gardens.

"With the fast modernisation of society, environmental degradation is a real and urgent issue. The launch of the PARKROYAL COLLECTION brand is a response to this urgent need. The brand aims to champion the sustainable agenda through conscious measures to create a green environment while conserving energy and water, as well as integrating responsible practices to reduce waste,” said Choe Peng Sum, Chief Executive Officer, Pan Pacific Hotels Group.

He added, “When we renovated PARKROYAL COLLECTION Marina Bay, we introduced extensive greenery and landscaping indoors, installed solar panels and water-filtered taps in every room. We also included an urban farm, where herbs, edible flowers, and vegetables are grown for use as ingredients in our restaurant’s culinary creations to bring about the ideals of conscious living within our hotels.”

The Latest Addition – PARKROYAL COLLECTION Marina Bay

A Perfect Balance of Iconic Design, Eco-friendliness, and Well-being

Central to its commitment to sustainable development, PARKROYAL COLLECTION Marina Bay’s original architecture—designed by neo-futuristic American architect John Portman in 1985—was retained. Doing so prevented the production of 51,300 tonnes of carbon dioxide—equivalent to wiping out 8.7 million trees or an area larger than all of Singapore’s nature reserves—that would come with demolishing a typical high-rise^[1].

“The retention of the iconic architecture by John Portman challenged us to remake a classic to craft a new hospitality experience. 370 square metres of greenery has been brought into the 20-storey urban scale atrium, with hotel amenities such as the organic Bird’s Nest pavilions and green-house dining rooms seamlessly integrated into the design. These have contributed to the creation of this one of a kind garden-in-a-hotel,” said Donovan Soon, Director, FDAT Architects, who is responsible for the regenerated design of PARKROYAL COLLECTION Marina Bay.

Featuring a 13-metre high green wall at the entrance for a commanding welcome, the hotel’s greenery, with 2,400 indoor plants, acts as a natural air purifier. The four-storey-high ‘Sky-Bridge’, a key feature, creates an immersive treetop walk experience accompanied by the aria of live songbirds. The overall ambience gives rise to a new concept of interior urbanism by bringing Singapore’s lush gardens within the hotel.

Staying Responsibly in a Modern Environment

During the renovation, all 583 guestrooms were overhauled to create a conscious living environment. Carpets were stripped and replaced with timber flooring (engineered wood) to reduce the volatile organic compounds (VOC) emissions, optimising indoor air quality. A large bay window area in the rooms also maximises daylight. Motion sensors have also been installed to conserve energy by turning off unnecessary usage of lights and air-conditioning when guests are not in the room.

Additionally, water-filter taps have also been installed in every guestroom, along with the provision of glass bottles. This initiative eliminates the use of approximately 360,000 plastic water bottles per year.

To minimise impact on the environment, guests are provided with cruelty-free and paraben-free bath amenities in biodegradable pump bottles, further reducing the use of plastics.

The hotel has also removed any unnecessary paper in rooms, and installed a digital concierge, Iris, through which guests may access the in-room dining menu and request for additional amenities.

Sustainable Dining in a Glass House, Complete with An Urban Farm

Peppermint, the hotel’s all-day dining restaurant, offers hand-harvested produce from its urban farm, which contributes 20% of the herbs and vegetables used at the restaurant. It also uses sustainable and locally sourced ingredients, keeping in line with the hotel’s green push forward.

Food waste is also responsibly handled via a food waste bio digester. Every kilogram of food waste sent to the food waste digester is a kilogram diverted away from general waste incineration.

Leveraging Green Technology and Sustainable Practices

Use of Green Technology

The Group’s unyielding efforts in sustainability have earned both PARKROYAL COLLECTION Marina Bay and PARKROYAL COLLECTION Pickering BCA Green Mark Gold and Platinum certifications respectively and made a visible impact on their carbon footprints. Green technology interwoven with the innovative designs of the hotels have resulted in real energy savings for PARKROYAL COLLECTION hotels.

At PARKROYAL COLLECTION Marina Bay, solar panels are expected to generate 121,000 kwh of energy per year. The hotel’s design has also incorporated double-glazed glass ceilings, which help to optimise chilled water systems and promote energy efficiency, estimated to save more than 160,000kwh per year.

Similarly, at PARKROYAL COLLECTION Pickering, the use of solar panels; motion sensors in guestroom corridors, stairwells and all public restrooms; as well as photo sensors in the guestroom corridors conserve close to 100,000kwh of energy per year. The rainwater harvesting system, which recycles collected rainwater to irrigate the gardens, collects 6,000 cubic square metres of water a year, equivalent to the amount of water in four Olympic-sized pools.

Both hotels will soon introduce electric cars and charging stations at their premises as well. This will be an option for eco-conscious guests to use for their transfers, so as to reduce carbon emission.

A Legacy of Sustainable Practices

Pan Pacific Hotels Group has embarked on a mission to eliminate the use of single-use items such as plastics, straws, stirrers and paper note-pads.

Recycling bins are also placed in every guestroom and at back-of-house to remind and support its associates and guests in environmental responsibility.

The Group has also signed a pact with World Wildlife Fund in 2019 to remove all sharkfins and sharkfin produce on its menu. The hotels work with sustainable food suppliers and local producers as much as possible. For instance, the coffee beans used in the Atrium Lounge at PARKROYAL COLLECTION Marina Bay are sourced from a supplier certified by the Rainforest Development Alliance, and the hotel also works with Nepresso to collect used capsules for processing into compost for the hotel’s urban farm.

Sustainability is an urgent global priority, with concerted efforts across industries to prioritise green growth and clean energy. As a pioneer for sustainable hospitality, Pan Pacific Hotels Group is paving the way for a more sustainable future through its demonstrated success in sustainable, innovative design at its PARKROYAL COLLECTION brand of hotels.

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Appendix

A Forerunner in Conscious Choice and Sustainable Living

PARKROYAL COLLECTION Pickering: A Beacon of Sustainability Since 2013

The focus on innovative and sustainable design has been rooted in PARKROYAL COLLECTION’s philosophy since the birth of its flagship hotel, PARKROYAL COLLECTION Pickering, nine years ago.

Designed by Singapore-based architectural firm WOHA, PARKROYAL COLLECTION Pickering's iconic green structure boasts 15,000 square metres of greenery, which is equivalent to 200% of the hotel’s gross floor area; an unprecedented scale for a built-up city centre.

The building’s smart, open-sided concept is configured to create maximum perimeter for natural light and views, while its short building depth maximises the amount of daylight reaching internal spaces. High-performance glass cuts out solar heat and provides an abundance of natural daylight. The green and blue glass used throughout the property improves solar performance.

The extensive landscape areas are designed to be self-sustaining and rely minimally on precious resources. This is done through rainwater harvesting and use of NEWater. Spaces such as external hotel corridors are designed to naturally ventilated to reduce the cooling requirements of the building.

Widely known as Singapore’s “hotel-in-a-garden”, PARKROYAL COLLECTION Pickering has been recognised as “World’s Leading Green Hotel” at the World Travel Awards for three consecutive years, and the “HICAP Sustainable Hotel” in 2020.