The award for 'Best Holiday Hotel' during the second architectural competition 100% Hotel Design Awards, that was presented during 100% Hotel Show 2015 (27-30 November 2015), was given to the hotel
«EKIES ALL SENSES RESORT»
and the architecture office
AGARCH+ ARCHITECTS
Project Description
The subject of the study was the redesign of an existing subterranean ward for secondary purposes and its inclusion in the dynamic of the hotel. Our goal was to create room-suites with the ability of hosting 4 people/suite during the operating summer months, catering to long term accommodation.
The central idea of the architectural design was based on the creation of a series of rooms, which are consolidated with the landscape through the regeneration of the surrounding area, taking advantage of the favourable south-eastern direction and the dense pine forest area that the front ward faces. The reshaping of the outdoor level and the regeneration of entrances and levels led to the creation of semi-open and open spaces thus increasing the private activities for each room.
The design of the rooms is developed by the indoor private locations (cloakrooms, bathrooms, sleeping area), out in semi-open spaces to "in house" services. With a landscape towards the lush vegetation, the interior is converted to a filtered private outdoor area with pool, sand and subbeds creating a "beach". Transitional planted areas and mild private entrances signaled by lighting leading to a public-trail ride and forest, public green. The "cave" interiors evolve outwardly, through perforated variable limits, into outdoor areas that mingle with the forest that surrounds them.
The application of physical and coarse materials was proposed in order to integrate the interior with the exterior of the room so that the user will be experiencing with all his senses the closeness with nature. Cast floors, smooth mosaic interiors and rough pebble in the interstices are upgraded into sand and plantings. Natural dyes (limewash), cement and untreated concrete surfaces sustain over time a natural patina without burdening with large maintenance costs.
Black plate with natural varnish, as a reference to the mines of the area, was used for the finishing and thin construction-limits of the areas. Translucent filters (curtains, windows sandblasting, reeds) function as gentle limits when users wish, offering privacy when closed, while allowing the natural light to penetrate and reach inside. The perimetrical configurations and plantings in response to the natural green as well as the integration of the trees complete the final sense of the user that "talks" with the outdoor physical space.
The studying of the lighting was based on the functionality of the areas and the highlighting of the "template" of the materials. Led linear elements create indirect lighting specifying the limits within the room, and natural individual luminaries create direct ambient lighting. The lighting elements on the outside area were incorporated into the landscape and plantings defining the user's movements.
The limited construction time forced the architectural design to take important decisions such as the standardization of the design on engineering issues and stakeout floors, and a unique furniture design. Specifically, floors of wet areas for the passage of pipes were raised and their roofs were relegated in order to be able to get the electromechanical infrastructure to release the rest of the room and not to limit the net. Patterns and alignments were selected for the floors which can be adapted to different sizes of room, while the mobile equipment was manufactured in standard dimensions and placed in free arrangement so that it can be adapted to each layout.
Project Team:
Architectural research: agarch+ architects (Γιώργος Αναγνωστέλλης, Γιώργος Βιδάλης, Αγγελική Παππά)
Landscape research: Fytron Ο.Ε. (Michalis Petsagourakis)
Stability research: Vyronas Askitis
Technological research: KMP engineering
Project development: KMP engineering Project cost: 250.000 €
Photography: Kostas Amirides, Ioanna Roufopoulou
