One of the architectural practices at the forefront of this movement is Baquero+Iturbe. Its creators are committed to enhancing the potential of spaces that not only have a unique visual factor but also whose structural deterioration implies a low valuation that tends to cost far less than an empty plot. With a big dose of creativity, the conversion is a guaranteed success.
The Langholmen hostel in Stockholm (Sweden) was once a prison.
How has this discipline started and developed?
In Spain, the crisis in the construction industry and the lack of building land in attractive areas for tourists have led to this phenomenon. Many developers, entrepreneurs and hotel owners have been seduced by the idea of what Baquero+Iturbe call ‘space recycling’, and where many people only saw derelict buildings, these visionaries have come up with a different option for creating an attractive tourist product and a chance to get access to a more affordable option in an increasingly inaccessible market.
The Hotel Quinta Real Zacatecas (Mexico) is housed within an old amphitheatre.
The adventure starts with a technical and urban feasibility study as well as an architectural survey to assess the building and its surroundings in relation to their shortcomings and potential, which goes hand-in-hand with exhaustive knowledge of current legislation.
Once the outer structure has been defined it’s time to shape the internal content, based on an idea that will guide the entire creative process. The architecture is the most tangible aspect, but the overall product must be created from a holistic vision that embraces other disciplines.
The next step is to put together a preliminary plan based on the project, adapting to the owner’s requirements and the agreed business plan: the number of rooms, star rating, additional services, etc.
The outcome of this entire process implemented by Baquero+Iturbe is the 3R concept of rethinking + revitalising + relating.
The most environmentally-friendly building is one that does not have to be built
In the words of architect Huw Heywood in his book 101 Rules of Thumb for Sustainable Buildings and Cities,, ‘the most environmentally-friendly building is the one that does not have to be built.’
For this reason, architectural metamorphosis and urban recycling in the case of hotels will always be the option that involves the lesser ecological footprint. It is essential to consider other alternatives to new build: cleaning-up, restoring, renovating, refurbishing or transforming existing spaces and buildings has now become the environmentally-responsible option for the hotel industry.
Hotel Cap Rocat in Majorca, a former military fortress.
For the proprietor, the product is already unique; hence the importance of unveiling the essence of the forgotten space and showcasing it, whether this is its location, its characteristic use or a construction system that reveals the period in which it was built. For the guest, spending time in a space with its own history and being able to absorb it through the architecture and design becomes a memorable experience.
The value of storytelling
Every project should tell the story of a place, a person and an idea that are imbued in the whole creative process, managing to give the project its unique personality.
The storytelling creates an emotional bond with the guest and a feeling of familiarity with future users.
Travellers are tired of impersonal destinations. Tourism today is based on the psychology of an experience that arouses emotions, and architecture, as a container of those experiences, needs to help provide them.
Wythe Hotel is a former factory located in the heart of Brooklyn.
A return to local values and the increasingly generalised rejection of ‘non-places’ and large, characterless structures are even further boosting this model.
Modern architects need to be both humanists and orchestra conductors for a project to meet the minimum functional, urban and technical requirements while at the same time maintaining a taste for detail and exclusivity. To do so, they need to immerse themselves in studying and understanding other cultures, in travel, in observation and curiosity.
Fontevraud Abbey in France is now a hotel.
Specific search engines: mydifferentplace.com, a success story
The history of this start-up begins, like so many others, from a sense of frustration in being unable to find a quick, simple and intuitive booking service.
One of its creators, Francisco Sacristán, wanted to surprise his partner with a dream weekend break. The task was so complicated that he spotted a business opportunity that would bring together unique accommodation options which, even if they existed, were not easy to track down in the Internet universe.
Sleeping in an igloo, in a tree house, an old hayloft, a wine cellar or a bubble hotel are just a few of the exclusive results offered by the brand-new company mydiferentplace.com which already boasts some 200 experiential lodgings across the whole of Spain and Portugal, many of which were long-forgotten spaces that have now been recovered. Let’s take a look at some of them.
Tree houses
Basoa Suites in Navarre is a complex of tree houses set in the oak forest of Amati, a protected environmental treasure of particular botanical and ornithological interest.
LaThe tree houses were built using techniques and materials that cause the minimum possible impact on the tree and its surroundings, and have a dry bathing system that avoids the need for pipes and drains within the woodland. The wooden walkways do not compact the earth to ensure that the native flora and fauna does not suffer from the impact of visitors.
‘The Inhabited Ruin’, an old hayloft
The Inhabited Ruin is an old hayloft in Porquera de los Infantes (Palencia). An engawa, — a typical Japanese garden featuring ivy, maple and a small pond — lies behind a 9-metre armoured glass wall to create a truly unique space. The shower, a 2.50 sq. m space opening onto the garden, with the water falling six metres from the loft, is another of the stunning features. The ‘ruin’ also has a heated floor and a lighting system that generates up to 16 different scenic light combinations.
A cave house hotel
Casa Tierra is a cave house built inside an old stone quarry surrounded by a landscaped area of 3,000 square metres.
During the 19th and 20th centuries the space was used for agricultural and livestock farming. The cave might have originated when Cordoba was known as Colonia Patricia or could even date back to the Arab period, when the quarry supplied stone to build the Palatine city of Medinat-al-Zahra and the Caliph’s house of Ar-Rumaniya.
In addition, the location was used to shoot a documentary, Through the Eyes of Ouka Leele on the artist and National Photography Award winner.
The cork hotel
Inspired by the medieval villages in the region of Alentejo (Portugal), the Ecorkhotel was built from a series of cork oaks and olives trees which have been transformed into an eco-friendly hotel clad in cork.
The hotel has been recognised as best tourist enterprise, and as the best eco-tourism establishment in Portugal.
All the suites are set among olive trees which determine the structure of the internal walkways alongside white abstract blocks.
Located in Évora, this eco-resort has been laid out to take advantage of prevailing winds and reduce energy consumption, and is set on recyclable flooring that ensures thermal protection.
An oasis in the middle of the desert
Surrounded by wheat fields in Tudela (Navarre), this hotel offers architecture, design, comfort and gastronomy all in one space. Its location in the middle of the harsh lunar landscape of Bardenas Reales and its commitment to privacy, with its structure of independent cubes with vast picture windows, have garnered more than 20 architectural awards.
In addition, the hotel has a complementary complex of ‘bubble’ rooms designed by French engineer Pierre Stephane.
The igloo hotel
Spending the night at an altitude of 2,350 metres at below-zero temperatures in comfort is now a possibility in this igloo hotel in Andorra.
The complex, which is redecorated every year, comprises five rooms and has a capacity of six guests.
My Different Place won the prize for best innovative idea from Yuzz Valencia (Banco Santander and European Centre for Innovative Enterprises of Valencia) and was selected to take part in Invat.tur Emprende.
Its creators, Francisco Sacristán, Pedro Pérez-Pretel, Carlos Jover and Vicente Benlloch, are still developing the service’s excellence through the Área 31 programme, the business accelerator of the IE Business School.
