THESE are the latest images of the £36m hotel complex that's set to transform a waterfront site in Southampton.

Development giant Bouygues UK has been named as the firm to deliver the five star Southampton Harbour Hotel and Spa that could create up to 1,300 jobs.

The Daily Echo reported earlier this year that preliminary works on the Ocean Village site have begun, and construction work is set to commence this month.

When completed, the complex will feature the 85-bed and 12 apartment Southampton Harbour Hotel and Spa that will become the city's first luxury five star hotel since the Grand Harbour Hotel was downgraded in 2009.

Its owners, the Nicolas James Group, owns a string of five other luxury hotels across the South Coast.

The firm has lined up acclaimed Hampshire chef Alex Aitken to run the restaurant, while the complex will will also contain an 82-home block of flats.

Bouygues UK is also building the Admiral's Quay development just yards away which will deliver 300 new flats and the city's highest residential building, and has worked on a number of other major building projects in Southampton.

Daily Echo:

HGP Architects, which designed Portsmouth's iconic Spinnaker Tower and Admiral's Quay, are the architects for the project.

Nicholas Roach, the chairman of Nicolas James Group, said: "We are delighted to confirm Bouygues UK as the main contractor for this exciting project.

"With a solid reputation in managing developments of this scale, we look forward to working together on the build of our new Southampton Harbour Hotel & Spa, including 94 luxury residential apartments.

"We are very confident that this development will prove a great addition to Ocean Village and Southampton, boosting tourism and becoming a destination of choice."

Bouygues UK's regional managing director, Darren Gill, said: "We’re happy to be working with Nicolas James Group to deliver a new hotel, homes and commercial premises, as part of the wider regeneration work that is being carried out in the Ocean Village marina. The hotel will also include a spa and incorporate a restaurant on the top floor, with views across the Solent.

“As a company with longstanding ties to the local community in Southampton, we’re pleased that we are able to contribute further to the efforts to revitalise this important part of the city.”

Bouygues UK expect to hand over the hotel complex to the Nicolas James Group towards the end of the summer in 2017, and it is then expected to welcome its first guests later that year.

As well as the 300 jobs created in the new hotel, it is expected that 1,000 construction jobs will also be created.