BALI members enhance elegant Manchester hotel

BALI Registered Affiliate member Johnsons of Whixley has teamed up with landscaping experts Gavin Jones Ltd and landscape architecture consultants PWP Design Ltd to help enhance the grounds at the Dakota, an elegant new hotel in central Manchester.

Simon Hall (Design Director at PWP Design) explained that the planting design “aimed to create a luxurious style using clipped evergreen shrubs, sculptural feature trees and lush green groundcover for a series of planting areas and pots that frame the terrace, address Ducie Street and define the parking courtyard and main entrance”.  

Johnsons supplied hundreds of herbaceous, shrub and grass varieties for the hotel grounds, including Buxus spirals, more than 300 Sarcococca confusa, hundreds of Pachysandra ‘Green Carpet’ to create attractive yet low maintenance ground cover, Agapanthus africanus, Viburnum davidii and Hakonechloa macra, All of which were planted by Gavin Jones Ltd.

Johnsons has many years’ experience of supplying luxury hotels, with a recent supply to the stunning Grantley Hall near Ripon that included thousands of shrubs and herbaceous along with a large number of topiary.  

In addition, the company has recently supplied two other high-profile projects in the Manchester area, with trees, shrubs and herbaceous going to the Chapel Wharf apartment scheme and a number of Christmas trees to the Spinningfields development.

The Dakota Manchester is situated in Dulcie Street, at the edge of the popular northern quarter, and features 137 rooms including a grand deluxe penthouse believed to be the largest in the city. The grounds include a waterside terrace and cigar garden.

Johnsons of Whixley marketing co-ordinator Eleanor Richardson said:

There’s a lot happening in Manchester right now, especially in the Salford area, so it’s fantastic to be supplying to a lot of these new projects. It’s also great to be teaming up once again with Gavin Jones Ltd and PWP Design Ltd.

Senior estimator Ricky Whiteman said:

Following our work at Dakota Hotel Leeds, it was an honour and a pleasure working on the high-profile Dakota Hotel in Manchester alongside Johnsons of Whixley and PWP Design Ltd. The collaboration of our businesses allowed us to achieve the luxurious and high visual impact the client required for the hotel.