The Barcelona-based architecture studio DNA Architects presents a new project for a resort hotel in Mexico, in an area of the Yucatan peninsula close to the Atlantic Ocean, the exact location of which has not been revealed. The architectural project consists of a tourism and leisure complex of 10 elevated villas and 20 hotel rooms, plus “natural” swimming pools, a gym, a spa, a restaurant, a bar and numerous communal spaces for recreation and relaxation. The concept responds to the search for a fusion between nature and architecture, in what the architects call “archi-nature”. A concept never better applied than in the case of this new project, the Life Tree Hotel, which will be located in an “environment of great tourist and landscape value“. Therefore, the conceptual design presented by DNA Architects is directly inspired by elements of nature, such as birds’ nests and the trees themselves.
The distribution of the space starts from a centre from which paths radiate to the rest of the facilities. The central structure of the Life Tree Hotel takes the form of a large tree from which elevated walkways radiate radially to each end of the complex. Around this large central tree, the “nest-houses“, in other words, the hotel’s nest-shaped bungalows, are distributed. Their aerial arrangement, elevated above the ground, offers a magnificent view over the natural landscape. The service buildings, such as the reception, gym, spa and bar, are located at each corner of the plot. On the ground level are the swimming pools and other “many natural elements and community spaces for relaxation and enjoyment of the nature of the place”.
Life Tree Hotel, rather than being surrounded, is immersed in the lush vegetation of the Yucatan peninsula. Its design presages a construction from natural materials such as wood. The members of the “holistic community” for which the complex is intended, as they walk between ropes and walkways from the periphery to their nest-house, or to the pool, or to the spa, will almost feel like wild birds, as an integral part of the animality that inhabits the tropical forests that embrace them. In short, and in accordance with the aim of the architects, they will enjoy a unique and enriching experience.
Source and images: ADN Architects.
