2014 MCHAP
Holiday Inn Santo Domingo
Sanchez&Curiel Architects
Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic
Nov-09
PRIMARY AUTHOR
Andres Sanchez Cesar Curiel Plácido Piña Pablo De La Mota
CONTRIBUTING AUTHOR
Binomio Design (Interior Design) Prieto Nouel Electromecanica (Electro-Mechanic) Cadelec (Electrical Engineer) Reginal Garcia (Structural Engineer) William Guzmán (Architect) Rocio Marchena (Architect) Francisco A. RodrÃguez (Plumbing Engineer)
CLIENT
Inexpress
PHOTOGRAPHER
Fernando Calzada
OBJECTIVE
The Holiday Inn Hotel Santo Domingo has nine levels, 162 bedrooms, and 20 suites, planned and developed with the new standards of the Holiday Inn International brand of the Intercontinental Hotels Group. Its architecture is based on a philosophy of acknowledging the site and the city, in consonance with a contemporary culture ideal for the spirit of the new business hotel. The first level contains the vestibule area in a double-height space with a curtain wall façade facing the street, which lends great transparency and interior-exterior visual fluidity. On the first level, in addition to the reception area, is the Aromas Restaurant, with elegant decoration highlighting the woodworking and lamps that break up the monochromatic of the ambience; the first level also holds a cafeteria and meeting rooms, while the lounge is located on the mezzanine, over- looking the vestibule and the street. The floors containing the bedrooms are characterized by an interesting arrangement of distribution corridors, breaking up the perception of a straight line by inserting wooden elements in the ceiling. The furnishings and decoration are coherent with the overall concept in which simple forms and a modern line are complimented by the colors, using sober and neutral tones. The gym, sauna, swimming pool, and roof garden, tops off the building by recreating a recreational space where one can enjoy a view of the city, the mountains, and the ocean. The hotel is incorporated in a zone of the Abraham Lincoln Avenue that is acquiring a high-quality urban character.
CONTEXT
In the commercial heart of the city, in an area of 3,000 square meters, the Holiday Inn Hotel Santo Domingo had to incorporate the character of the neighborhood Piantini, a high quality urban profile that has a commitment to excellence. Within walking distance of many of the main activities of the city, one would only have to walk very little, to enter a mall or visiting an art gallery, before getting a snack at a nearby café or a bite to eat in one of the nearby restaurants. The challenge consisted in not only integrate the hotel into context, but to keep its identity intact. The building was built with s strong presence on the lot in nine levels plus one for underground parking, one hundred and sixty two rooms and twenty suites. The hotel had to be developed with the new standards of the Holiday Inn International of Intercontinental Hotels Group.
PERFORMANCE
The Holiday Inn Hotel Santo Domingo, being the only hotel in the area, has marked a precedent with its relationship between the building and city. Limiting the lobby to a glass curtain and bringing the driveway pavement inside the building, expands the sidewalk and takes the hotel out to the city. Using a suspended glass ceiling over the driveway, with almost no visual obstacle, gives the pedestrians a direct connection with the building. The building has generated a positive urban impact, not only by the way it works with the city but also as a reference spot. Even though is not common in the area a medium scale structure dark color painted, which suggests anonymity, it posses a series of elements, such as pergolas and an open terrace, that gives that feeling of habitability and places the building in the Caribbean. At night its dark lateral facades almost disappear and the floating windows fuse with its residential buildings surroundings. The pool deck and the gym located on the 8th floor and on the front of the building, parallel to the avenue, has a combination of LED lights, which work together with the night live in the area.