The Gateway Hotel in Umhlanga embraces Green Revolution
Situated a stone’s throw away from Umhlanga Beach and the Gateway Theatre of Shopping, the Gateway Hotel in Durban, KwaZulu-Natal, has been designed to take the concerns of environmentally-enlightened travellers to heart. Although vast and luxurious, the Gateway Hotel is a hotel with a small carbon footprint.
With 146 rooms and five conference venues, “greening” the three-star Gateway Hotel, although no easy task, was a necessary undertaking, and is something that will allow guests to enjoy the facilities of the hotel with a clear conscience. Focusing on the corporate, government, conference and leisure markets, Durban's Gateway Hotel manages to incorporate sustainable policies without impacting on the level of luxury guests can expect to enjoy.
The R200 million development, with its proximity to the Gateway Theatre of Shopping, King Shaka Airport and the Umhlanga Village, allows guests to enjoy and take part in the vibrant North Coast lifestyle.
It's green and energy-efficient policies are one of the first steps taken by a hotel in South Africa for conservation. There are many aspects of the Gateway Hotel which appeal to the environmentally-conscience such as the efficient lighting solutions which are not just about using low energy bulbs.
Atrium light wells were introduced to facilitate natural light penetration. This, combined with a thermal performance glass ensures that air-conditioning loads are kept as low as possible in the hotel since direct heat energy transmission through the lens is controlled. To make sure that rooms do not heat uncomfortably, therefore prompting guests to turn on energy-consuming air conditioners, the use of external shading devices have also been used.
The iconic leafy screen surrounding the Gateway Hotel in Umhlanga is a particularly efficient shading technique which ensures solar shielding of the dominant northern facades of the building.
Furthermore, the Gateway Hotel has been constructed from green building materials. Where possible, efficient and approved replacements for standard materials were used. The Hotel also has regeneration drive lift systems, heat pump technology, a building management system that allows for the remote control of various equipment, variable speed drive installations which permit the optimisation of motor systems as well as an ozone water treatment system that reduces the need for chlorine. These are but a few of the green principles the Gateway Hotel has implemented.