The design concept of this luxury spa and hotel sought a balanced response to the natural setting on one hand and to the urbanized context on the other. The structure of the resort is built up into the side of the mountain, integrating its volume with that of its natural setting. To its neighbors, a church and a hotel, the building design offers a neutral response, moderately acknowledging the traditional space-making of these rectilinear blocks disposed orthogonally to one another. A series of curving walls or “ribbons” define the building’s exterior form. These “ribbons” spring from the mountainside and terminate equally, while between them are green roof surfaces in a series of terraces, forming extensions of the mountain landscape. This ‘watery’ shape gives a reduced appearance of bulk, and results in a structure that is thoroughly integrated into its immediate environment.
PROGRAM
The program is complex, and the municipal zoning limits require that much of the floor area be located underground, making the provision of natural light and views of the surroundings to the maximum area of the plan a design priority. The carving out of the building volume and the strategic location of windows serve to connect the interior spaces with the mountain landscape, giving the visitor a series of orientating cues and embracing him in an atmosphere of wellness and serenity. On the other hand, the overlapping ribbons envelop and blend the spaces as they weave through the interior. On the main level are the pools and saunas, with one exterior and three interior hot pools, Turkish baths, cold baths, ice baths, saunas, showers, foot baths, relaxing areas, and juice bars.
DETAILS
The façade is built of a custom-made glass block, trapezoidal in section, acid etched both inside and out. This block’s form was designed to accentuate the curvilinear aspect of the façade, the overlapping of each block course over the one below creating a shadow line that reiterates the planimetric curve of the façade.
CLIENT
Aguas De Panticosa / Luis Nozaleda, NOZAR
LOCATION
Huesca, Spain
GROSS AREA
91,500 sqft
BUDGET
21.947.160 €
ARCHITECTS
Belén Moneo, Jeffrey Brock, Iñigo Cobeta
ARCHITECTS TEAM
Silvia Fernández, David Goss, Mathias Schútte, Andrés Barrón, Benjamín Llana, Brenda Moczygemba, Eduardo Vivanco, Bárbara Silva, Carlos Revuelta, María Pierres, Sandra Formigo, Andrea Caputo, Spencer Leaf, Clara Moneo, Brenda Moczygemba, Jose Galarza
TECHNICAL ARCHITECT
JM Álvarez, APARTEC
INTERIOR DESIGNER
Belén Moneo, Jeffrey Brock, Silvia Fernández, María Pierres
LANDSCAPE ARCHITECT
Belén Moneo, Jeff Brock, Isaac Escalante (CES Arquitectura del Paisaje)
STRUCTURAL ENGINEER
NB35, Jesús Jiménez, Alejandro Bernabeu
LIGHTING CONSULTANT
Diaz y Osorio
CONTRACTOR
HINACO-NOZAR, Manuel Mirallas