Architects at Enota have shared with ArchDaily their recent competition entry, a “natural experience” hotel resort in Bled, Slovenia, entitled ‘Mivka’. For additional images of their design as well as descriptive text from the architects themselves, please follow after the jump.
What is it that identifies the planned new hotel and holiday apartment community? Being near to Bled definitely matters. Bled is a town with a long-standing tourist tradition, surrounded by beautiful nature. It offers many possibilities of contributing to tourist offerings, such as skiing, mountaineering, extreme sports, hiking, as well as cultural and culinary diversity. Further qualities of Bled are easy accessibility, as well proximity of various larger Slovenian, Austrian and Italian cities, and the Mediterranean coast. Yet all of these characteristics apply equally to all the numerous hotels in the town and the vicinity. So what is it that really sets hotel Mivka apart from the rest?
Its incredible location. The hotel is located on a relatively large area in the middle of a forest, completely sheltered from the influence of its environment and surrounded only by beautiful nature. It represents a peaceful oasis, which is still close to the concentrated tourist offering found nearby. The principal guideline for the design of the hotel was thus providing a perfect natural experience. The guest choosing this resort for their destination is given a sensation of total connection with nature that surrounds them. And what is needed for such – 100% natural experience?
100% view on nature; A perfect view on nature means a view of nothing but nature. If it is self-understood that the users of the hotel shouldn’t be able to see a main road near the resort, it is crucial for them not to see the access road to the hotel itself, either. It is important for them not to see the other guests’ rooms from theirs. And not only that, there is an unobstructed view on nature also from each program cluster available for use by the guests without them also seeing the users of other programs.
100% natural lighting; when ensuring a perfect contact with nature, it is not only important how the users see the nature from the interior spaces outwards but obviously also how the nature penetrates the spaces from outside. In this regard, the most important natural influence is quality daytime lighting. The requirement is thus ample natural lighting in all spaces intended for the guests, including the communications.
100% sense of privacy; The feeling of being connected with nature is one’s intimate relationship. In order to nurture it, a great measure of privacy needs to be provided to the guests. As Mivka is a relatively large hotel, achieving this was quite a challenge. The large mass of the building is broken up into smaller sections with the users never seeing more than one or two sections at any one time due to their curved shape. The concave design of the sections envelops the different programs and defines the space intended for them. It ensures privacy to the users and prevents the views from crossing with the activities of adjacent program cluster. The guests perceive the large, homogenous hotel as an aggregation of smaller independent units.
100% natural appearance; Not lastly, the appearance of the building itself is important in stimulating the natural experience. The building has to blend with the environment in which it is placed. This is ensured by the organic design and consistent use of natural materials. Natural materials have a recognizable, characteristic structure, they do not stand out from the environment, and they age gracefully. The use of unprotected timber on the facade in particular holds a direct dialogue with the forest that surrounds the hotel. The vertical timber elements give emphasis to the curved lines of the principal volume, prevent views from the side, and act as a connecting element of sorts between the intimacy of the interior space and the warmth of the nature that enfolds it.
