DESIGN NAME: Harbor Project 01
PRIMARY FUNCTION: Boutique Apartments Hotel
INSPIRATION: It is the application of Ship building Theory to Boutique Lodging. Taking into account the building location, the context of harbor and ship building closely and historically related to Piraeus port provided the inspiration framework for the design concept.
UNIQUE PROPERTIES / PROJECT DESCRIPTION: Situated in the economic heart of Piraeus, in the vicinity of the Economic University, the Harbor Project 01 is a boutique building property. It is introducing a new concept in the philosophy of short stay lodging, comprising 5 apartment suites of average size 32 square meters. The innovation of the design lies in the built-in wooden structure that flows like a polyline the space accommodating all the functions and utilities maximizing comfort, privacy and ergonomics.
OPERATION / FLOW / INTERACTION: Drawing inspiration from popular word associations of harbour, the names chosen for the apartments are DOCK, MIST, COVE, SHORELINE AND CINNABAR. Each one provides the inspiration for the material, textures, color palette as well as all the elements and metaphors they are related with. The photos belong to the Dock Apartment for which the custom designed artwork on the wall summarizes the romantic memories within the new context that lies underneath the dock area. The main built in OSB structure follows the ship building theory in terms of accommodating all the utilities within. OSB panels provide the doors and panelling, while pine pillars brushed and stained provide the structural elements. The structure starts from the kitchen and snack countertop, continues to the furniture TV, then provides a desk for tablets or notebooks on one side while on the other near the apartment entrance provides storage space for luggage and dresser. The same structure continues its flow into the twin bedroom and provides a spacious walk-in closet and wall panelling. The bedroom offers a Japanese style low bed with two mattresses that at the same time can be transformed into a comfortable sofa within the privacy of the bedroom area. The whole concept was to provide sitting space for people to communicate, interact and relax while exceeding the functionality to allocated private and utility spots.
Guests can enjoy the exclusive Harbor courtyard reminiscent of old Greek house typologies offering garden, tiled square for yoga and Pilates, benches for socialising and relaxation. The pattern on the tiles is repeated on the artwork of the garden benches as well as the bed covers and all the bathroom ware to give more strength to the unique identity of the hotel.
PROJECT DURATION AND LOCATION: November 2014 to end Ferbuary 2015 for project delivery, and it is situated in Piraeus, Greece.
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PRODUCTION / REALIZATION TECHNOLOGY: OSB (Oriented Strand Board) panels which are associated with commercial cargo shipping, transportation and industrial typologies were chosen as the dominating material for the concept. They were treated with a special stucco plaster, resins and wax in order to eliminate the rough textured surface, providing a smooth velvet texture with the aesthetic quality of marble and extreme durability.
The artwork for every wall is a bespoke wallpaper theme different for every apartment, enhancing the unique ambience of the modern material with classical comfort and luxurious industrial feeling. Bronze antique metallic finishes, edisson bulbs for the lighting and custom made patterns for fabrics with ship building sketches were used, while the color palette is soft, with low contrast chosen from harbour ropes and materials found in docks. The wooden structure that dominates the floorplan and provides the project identity, was cut using CNC machines, painted and installed in the factory to secure its perfect assembling in place, and then dismantled to be installed in the apartment using special key mechanisms for interlocking the columns vertically.
SPECIFICATIONS / TECHNICAL PROPERTIES: 5 Floor building apartment 32 sm each, with court yard and roof garden.
TAGS: Hospitality, apartment, lodging, short term, harbor, ship building, innovation, OSB, modular
RESEARCH ABSTRACT: Following a research brief in ergonomics of Container vessels, the research focused on translating the modularity and autonomy of a large scale container vessel to a floorplan of 32 sq meters. The compartmentalized nature of a vessels hull, the traffic patterns as well as the specially designed openings that allow circulation without compromising strength and tensile attributes are becoming a metaphor to the architectural wooden structure occupying the center of the floor plan. International word associations search was also incorporated in order to determine what most people from various destinations and origins associate the harbor with. Questionnaires were administered to a group sample from the shipping industry in Piraeus in order to determine what these people expect from a boutique apartment building as well as what they associate Piraeus Port with.
CHALLENGE: The challenge was to overcome state regulations determining 4 star hospitality properties. The building refers to an existing block of flats building near Castella, in a very disadvantaged neighborhood regarding accessibility, since lack of parking and narrow streets imposed extra difficulty on its transformation into hospitality business. The existing building shell, limited the changes to the layout while its small scale made it difficult to accommodate all the necessary features of a 4 STAR rating boutique hotel. The design concept was to provide ergonomics and functionality that exceed that of a typical 32 sqmeter apartment, which combined with an extreme ground breaking design that gives it a unique identity to make it the most desirable design destination for every traveler that seeks adventure and experiential lodging.
ADDED DATE: 2015-02-26 16:23:31
TEAM MEMBERS (5) : Helen Brasinika Principal Designer, Researcher & Co-founder, Panagiota Brasinika Design Assistant & Project Manager, Anastasia Rokkou, Design Technologist_3Dcad Designs, Michael Savvas, Civil Engineer_State Permits and
IMAGE CREDITS: George Fakaros
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