Jidipi

Arrebol Patagonia Hotel

Thu, Jun 19, 2008HotelChile2008Ecoism, Deconstructivism, Regionalism

Arrebol Patagonia Hotel at dusk, showing its two volumes, stone-faced lower levels and vertical timber cladding.

ARREBOL PATAGONIA HOTEL 

Harald Opitz

ARCHITECTS
Harald Opitz

AREA
14000.0 m2

YEAR
2008

LOCATION
Puerto Varas, Chile

CATEGORY
Hotels

Text description provided by architect.

Young chilean architect Harald Opitz shared with us this impressive hotel located in the deep chilean south, that uses local wood for its skin, made in part of sticks.

Low hotel volume clad in weathered vertical timber, framed by trees with the lake visible beyond.
Hotel terraces and timber-clad volumes step down the slope toward a view of the lake.

THE PLACE

The arrebol hotel is placed on the south-east border of Llanquihue lake, in the city of Puerto Varas. It is located in a 14.000 mt2 of forest area, with native trees, lagoons and four centenary trees. Also, this area, is completely irregular, because of the shrubbery, ravines and little rivers. By the other hand, the entire hotel looks to the city and the lake.

THE LOCATION

The hotel is built on the border of the superior area of the forest. In front of, this you can find a big slope and also the best view of the city, lake and horizon. There you can see too, the four trees that inspired the arquitecture and distribution of the volumes of the hotel.

Hotel facade and balconies seen through trees, with timber screens between the windows.
Hotel windows and stone walls reflected in a shallow pool bordered by upright timber posts.

THE DECISIONS

The project of the hotel, was developed under two fundamental decisions, the first one was getting a rural way located on the superior border of the area (which was used for carrying wood by the owners of the area).

This decision allowed the release of the forest and the creation of the project 10 mt before the slope. The second decision was to develop the volumes of the hotel on this rural way and locating the views to the city and the lake.

THE PROGRAM

The bulding is composed by two volumes, a private one and a public one. The private volume, is located on the top of the area, and has two floors with guest rooms and a entrance hall that is projected out in a panoramic terrace.

Hotel facade viewed between mature trees, with balconies and large windows.
Close view of the hotel's stone-clad walls and a covered walkway with repeated windows.
Curved metal staircase inside the hotel, beside a wooden table and large windows.

The public volume is connected to the private one by the entrance hall, and it contains the hotel bar and restaurant and the meeting room.

CONSTRUCTIVE ISSUES

The hotel is built, by two principal materials, steel and reinforced concrete. For isolating noises, the constructive mechanism used, was a double wall with aerated concrete.

Top-down view into the hotel's spiral staircase, with curved wooden steps and dark metal railings.
Close-up of weathered wooden cladding with strands of pale moss growing between the boards.

Then, the slabs were constructed with composite slab and the finishing of the pave is made by Polished concrete. Another constructive details are the windows, because these are made of Raulí (native tree), but the most innovative detail is the heating that works with geo thermic energy.

THE MATERIAL

The project recognize the elements of the region and they are incorporated to the hotel design. That's why you may see a wooden panelling outside and inside the building. To cover the inside and the outside of the building, they were used alerce (native tree) fences, they were cut like little bricks of 30x3cm, and they were put together. The idea of this paneling was, to let get older the wood and watch how the weather affects them.

Sunset over the lake beyond the hotel grounds, reflected in a pool behind a row of upright posts.
Hotel buildings and a landscaped courtyard with mature trees and a narrow pool, illuminated at night.

To create the external fence, they were used native woods. This fence begins on the first floor terrace and ends forming a terrace that is the continuation of the entrance hall.

By the south side of the building, and for covering it, they were used native sticks. These ones were picked in the surrounding areas to the hotel and they were put together by craftsman. So, this paneling was inspired on the Chiloé fences.

Arrebol Patagonia Hotel at night, with illuminated windows beneath a facade of vertical wooden sticks, designed by Harald Opitz.
Two hotel volumes on a sloping site at night, with timber cladding, stone walls and exterior steps.
Night view of the hotel facade, showing a long balcony, stone-clad columns and a narrow garden pool.

A person stands on a timber terrace beside a large tree, with the hotel’s weathered wood-clad facade below.
Close view of the hotel exterior clad in closely set vertical branches, with surrounding trees alongside.
Upward view of a building corner clad in weathered timber boards, with a dark vertical metal joint against the sky.

Site plan showing the hotel volumes along the upper edge of a sloping, contoured forest site.
Bar and administration floor plan, with the building positioned among trees on a contoured slope.
Restaurant floor plan showing dining tables and service spaces beside the sloping site.
First-floor plan of the guest-room wing, with a repeated room layout following the site’s contours.
Second-floor plan showing a row of guest rooms and the stair at the end of the hotel wing.
West and east elevations show the hotel’s long, stepped profile and vertical timber screening.