Beyond gravity

Juraj Dulencin

Project idea

The architectural design of the minimalist hotel is oriented on the Italian island of Sardinia, in the province of Costa Paradiso. The goal of the design itself is to elevate the architecture around the construction and show what minimalism is all about with the help of simple shapes, clear operation and a clean combination of materials. It is intended for 20 guests. The building looks inconspicuous from the main entrance - a 145-meter long line with a minimum number of windows. The design is designed from travertine cladding, unobtrusively fits into the rugged terrain of pink-red Gallura granite. The hotel opens to the sea side. It is a two-story building, divided due to operation. With its linear shape, the building looks unobtrusive and does not disturb the view of the sea from the surrounding buildings. Part of the underground floor is embedded in the ground and the rest is raised above sea level. The building is materially divided into one longitudinal cuboid and an irregular octagonal prism, the front part of which is rotated by 7°.
The main reason was matching the architecture with the existing terrain, so the whole hotel is hanging of the sliff. The pool is rotated and positioned on the relief made by a nature, creating a natural stand for the ground floor

Project description

The main entrance to the building leads through the 1st floor, which is raised from the ground level by 1.2 meters. The possibility of entry is via a ramp and a staircase oriented to the entrance lobby and reception with its own facilities for employees and toilets for visitors. The kitchen has a spacious dining room with a spacious bar in the form of buffet tables, toilets, food storage and staff facilities with their own social room, with a separate entrance to the technical part of the building. From the dining room and lobby there is the possibility of entering a spacious terrace. The rest of the 1st floor consists of a conference room and 10 rooms separated by glass doors, one specially adapted for the disabled. Each room has its own bathroom with a free-standing bathtub with a view of the sea and a covered loggia. The long corridor is optically divided by an atrium for informal gatherings, lit by a linear skylight. Theentrance to the underground floor is via a single-sided woven staircase and an elevator. In the underground floor there is a wellness and spa consisting of a dressing room, toilets, and a shower. It is divided into a "swimsuit" and a "no-swimsuit" zone. The wellness center has three typesof saunas, a cooling pool, showers, massage rooms and a Kneipp path. The layout is complemented by a bar with its own storage, a relaxation room with a view of the sea and a partially covered, but open to the exterior, swimming pool with space for sunbeds. Thetechnical background of the pool, substation and air conditioning is located in the lower part of the building, also with a warehouse for the wellness operation.

Technical information

The building is designed in a combination of two structural systems- wall and column. It consists of a regular module in the area of rooms at an axial distance of 6.5 meters. The load-bearing walls are 300 mm thick from monolithic reinforced concrete with 200 mm thick insulation. The pillars are designed with a rectangular crosssection, size 200x300mm. Thesupporting system is complemented by reinforced concrete beams of 650 mm and 1100 mm height. Thefoundations under the load-bearing walls are designed in the shape of a trapezoid, foundation strips are designed under the underground floor, and the part extended above the pool is placed on piles. The structure of the staircase is designed as reinforced concrete woven on one side.
The balconies are separated by frosted glass, they do not disturb the simple continuous line. The shading of the rooms themselves and the entire building is solved with electric exterior blinds and from the interior with blackout curtains. Thecreated atrium is covered with a glass roof with a small bay window, breaking the uninterrupted line. The railings are designed from translucent glass.