Gonzalo Mardones V., Arquitecto

Hornitos Hotel

Hornitos Hotel
© Nico Saieh

HORNITOS HOTEL

Gonzalo Mardones V Arquitectos

LANDSCAPE
Cecilia Rencoret

ARCHITECTS TEAM
Gonzalo Mardones Falcone, María Jesús Mardones Falcone, Luis Morales Gatto, Claudio Quezada Fuentes, Emilio Ursic Marechau, Manuel Fuentes Ramos, Alberto Reeves Droguett, Claudio Leiva Brito, Cristián Romero Valente, Claudio Carrasco Fuentes, Francisco Valdés Donoso, Alessandro Beggiao.

LIGHTING
Paulina Sir

CLIENT
Caja de Compensación Los Andes

FURNISHING
Francesca Porzio, Macarena Valdés

ENGINEER
Alfonso Larraín

MANUFACTURERS
Tecma, Melón Hormigones, Juan Carlos Prieto, Hunter Douglas Brasil, MK, Aqua Systems

PHOTOGRAPHS
Nico Saieh

AREA
5800.0 m²

YEAR
2012

LOCATION
Hornitos, Chile

CATEGORY
Hotels

Hornitos Hotel
© Nico Saieh
Hornitos Hotel
© Nico Saieh

Text description provided by architect.

The hotel for the Caja de Compensación Los Andes in Hornitos locates on a plateau over a promontory 32 meters above sea level in the Atacama Desert, North of Chile.

Hornitos Hotel
© Nico Saieh
Hornitos Hotel
© Nico Saieh

As this is a privileged and immaculate place, the main challenge was to intervene trying to be the less invasive possible.

Therefore, we opted for a semi-buried architectural layout carried out horizontally with a larger volume containing the hotel, and smaller volumes scattered on the land (cabins), in order to cover the immediate area and join the vastness of the desert.

Hornitos Hotel
© Nico Saieh
Hornitos Hotel
© Nico Saieh

Every volume has been made of reinforced concrete pigmented with the colors of the desert intensifying the intention of mimesis to try to pass unnoticed.

The hotel has 5800 m2 and 38 rooms, other 36 in 18 cabins, an outdoor swimming pool, an indoor heated-swimming pool, auditorium, meeting rooms, dining rooms, lounges, gyms, etc.

Hornitos Hotel
© Nico Saieh
Hornitos Hotel
© Nico Saieh
Hornitos Hotel
© Nico Saieh

The strong sunshine, proper from the Atacama Desert, is controlled by a sequence of intermediate spaces that allow a gradual transfer from the protected places to the ones exposed to the sun.

Common circulations and spaces of the hotel are mostly open, generating air currents that allow constant air circulation.

The building protects itself from the sun setting with eaves and lattices.

Hornitos Hotel
© Nico Saieh
Hornitos Hotel
© Nico Saieh
Hornitos Hotel
© Nico Saieh

The roof, treated as a relaxation place, a terrace to stay and watch the sea and the distant landscape, is a great deck creating under itself an air chamber that allows to ventilate the roof and keep it isolated from the direct sunshine affecting the adequate air conditioning in the internal spaces of the hotel.

The complex is provided with water directly from the sea having inside the facilities a salt water treatment plant, which cleans water to be used and deposits remaining salts into an indoor pool next to the hotel access.

Hornitos Hotel
© Nico Saieh
Hornitos Hotel
© Nico Saieh
Hornitos Hotel
© Nico Saieh
Hornitos Hotel
© Nico Saieh


Hornitos Hotel
© Nico Saieh
Hornitos Hotel
© Nico Saieh
Hornitos Hotel
© Nico Saieh


Hornitos Hotel
© Nico Saieh
Hornitos Hotel
© Nico Saieh
Hornitos Hotel
© Nico Saieh
Hornitos Hotel
© Nico Saieh
Hornitos Hotel
© Nico Saieh
Hornitos Hotel
© Nico Saieh
Hornitos Hotel
© Nico Saieh
Hornitos Hotel
© Nico Saieh
Hornitos Hotel
© Nico Saieh
Hornitos Hotel
© Nico Saieh
Hornitos Hotel
© Nico Saieh
Hornitos Hotel
© Nico Saieh


Hornitos Hotel
Underground Floor Plan
Hornitos Hotel
First Floor Plan
Hornitos Hotel
Second Floor Plan
Hornitos Hotel
Third Florr Plan
Hornitos Hotel
Roof Plan
Hornitos Hotel
Site Plan


Hornitos Hotel
Section 1
Hornitos Hotel
Section 2
Hornitos Hotel
Section 3
Hornitos Hotel
Section 4


Hornitos Hotel
Elevation 1
Hornitos Hotel
Elevation 2
Hornitos Hotel
Elevation 3

Gonzalo Mardones V., Arquitecto
T +56 2 29493081
Gonzalo Mardones V., Arquitecto
Av. del Valle Nte. 869, 8580638 Huechuraba, Región Metropolitana, Chile