architectural portfolio
HARTBEESPOORT HOTEL
This business hotel and conference facility, initiated in late 2017, was a speculative concept proposal that was unrealised due to the client’s fears regarding the state of the economy.
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Project Brief
The clients have a large empty site in Hartbeespoort which they would like to develop. They tasked Archland Design Studios with generating a concept proposal for a single storey restaurant, conference venue and business hotel with 40 rooms. They were only starting to look at options, so Archland was given the leeway to refine the brief and generate a concept which would grab attention and become a landmark in the area.
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The site is located next to a large regional road, which gives it exposure but also results in large building lines. The site is surrounded by smaller roads on two other sides and borders a silent electrical substation on the western corner. With fairly flat topography and little vegetation or natural features, there was no need to limit the design to preserve anything existing.
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My Role
The project was designed, modelled and rendered entirely by myself.
Concept
In order to make a single story hotel of this size function properly, a layout was needed which would reduce the travelling distance from each room to the communal facilities. The idea of having the rooms radiate out from central nodes was thus explored. It was decided to explore layouts which would allow each unit to look into controlled garden spaces, rather than at other units or out towards the roads which surround the site on most sides. Experimentation through drawing revealed that the most effective way to achieve these two goals simultaneously was through organic circulation routes connecting the three points of an equilateral triangle with gentle curves. The roofs and paths of these organic circulation routes could easily be cast in concrete, but the walls making up the rooms could be left purely orthogonal, merging into the curves through the use of stepped walls.
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By interconnecting multiple circulation modules, provision was made for a future phase which would allow even more rooms to be built on the site. A public restaurant was included with a separate entrance and parking, allowing the hotel and conference facility to maintain stricter access control and an air of exclusivity.
The curved geometry of the overall layout was repeated at the edges of the structure, with pergolas and cast concrete forming curved entrances which slide past each other in layers of functional spaces attached to either side of the main circulation routes. The use of concrete, masonry and steel became a way to distinguish different functional layers through their material aesthetics, while timber pergolas and screens were used throughout to tie the various layers together and to make the outside spaces user friendly by diluting the harsh sun.
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The choice of materials and construction techniques was carefully considered to use the ‘low-tech’ skills and materials already prevalent in the area to create a building which looks and feels contemporary while having a strong connection to nature. The use of greenery and open spaces is the central theme which ensures that the hotel is a peaceful and relaxing environment for all its guests.
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Workflow
While many process drawings were done by hand, the building was modelled and rendered entirely in SketchUp. The Presentation and diagrams were then compiled in Adobe InDesign.
