In March 2014, Gunung Putri Graha Mas announced its recent agreement with Accor to become the registered supplier of prefabricated bathroom units for the group’s future hotel projects. The announcement marks the next phase in the development and implementation of GPGM’s latest product, which was first designed in July 2012 following the company’s decision to synergise its skills in solid surfacing material and FRP product manufacturing. With a prototype of the prefabricated bathroom unit having been completed in September 2012, Accor Group carried out extensive product testing before verifying it for use in their popular budget hotels – a strict year-long process indicative of the group’s expectations when it comes to product safety and quality.
The agreement between Gunung Putri Graha Mas and Accor comes at a key time as demand for budget hotels in Indonesia is expected to continue to rise in 2014. As these hotels tend to emphasise advantages in convenience and strategic locations, limitations to land necessitate room designs that are smaller and more compact. Prefabricated bathroom units that are constructed to precise specifications offer the ideal solution to this need for space optimisation and offer the added benefit of arriving at project location ready to install, so as to minimise disruptions to other construction phases.
The demand for prefabricated bathroom units is also apparent in the residential property industry, as rising land prices in Indonesia and the ongoing emergence of high-rise living has led to increased attention being paid to the ratio of space allocated to individual rooms in housing units. An overarching trend towards smaller spaces needed for housing units is already common in developed countries; Japan, for example, has been using pre-fabricated bathroom units since the 1960s. More recently, Singapore announced new regulations to be enforced in the second half of 2014 requiring developers to use prefabricated bathroom units for all residential projects on government land sale sites. Gunung Putri Graha Mas thus expects that there will also be considerable opportunities for the successful export of this product to neighbouring markets.
Gunung Putri Graha Mas’ prefabricated bathroom units are emblematic of the company’s continuous efforts to grow and expand in accordance with industrial demand. By actively and strategically identifying new products to manufacture, GPGM is now well positioned to meet demand for easily installed, space optimised bathroom units from both the hospitality and residential property sectors.
