Architects and designers
The Interior Design According to AKSL Arhitekti *
(*AKSL arhitekti are: Mr Aleš Košak and Mrs Špela Leskovic)
The task of this project was to functionally and formally rearrange the existing dwelling house into a smaller design boutique hotel, erect a single storey wellness building as well as to appropriately arrange the building's surrounds.
Apart from the interior the rearrangement of the existing structure also included the artistic remodelling of already finished façades with some new final linings to reach the tendency towards the uniformity of all the materials used as well as the consistency of the structure's integrated image.
The interior consists of both common and private spaces, situated over the building’s three storeys. The house's entrance part with the reception desk and mini bar actually offers its guests their first contact with the hotel's interior. The reception desk is designed as a huge stone piece melting into the massive ribs, flowing further on to the house’s interior. The lacquered wood wall behind the reception desk resembles a stylised image of branches, holding the keys to the house’s suites. This space opens into the Sunroom, a common living (day-and-night) space, offering its users either a variety of activities or just a pleasant rest. Although it is furnished with cosy sofas and small club tables, its most attractive element is by all means the wood fireplace. The Sunroom opens towards the common dining room, walled in with a glass membrane, enabling its visitors an immediate visual connection with the nearby nature.
The thematic guest suites are situated on both the ground and the first floor. They are accessible from the common spaces. Each and every suite has its own story, providing this small boutique hotel with some extra charm and personal note. The guests are encouraged to choose their suites according to their own tastes, to test and explore them, repeatedly.
The materials are quite agreeable and a lot of natural wood was used too. The colours used on the walls are mostly in warm brown tones. In opposition to the usual practice in the hotel rooms, this time the bathrooms and toilets are designed as a part of the entire space and marked off only with translucent or semi-translucent glass walls. Hence the sense of even greater airiness and spaciousness of the suites. An essential part of the suites integrated image is graphic design, presented either as graphic pieces on walls or as printed fabrics of pillows and beddings.
Following the stairs one descends to the basement to discover the Sončna hiša personnel office and the wine cellar meant for evening gatherings of its guests. Here the furniture is designed rationally too, corresponding thematically to the space’s contents, i.e.: wine benches, tables and wine cabinets. The lighting is artificial and stifled.
The building with a small wellness oasis is yet another sequel of the hotel's story as it offers its guests relaxation in saunas, soaking in the outdoor jacuzzi and pampering with various types of massages. This building's exterior is clad into a wood panel facade, visually extending into the larger wood facade through the fish pond. The pleasing atmosphere and the fusion of surrounds and natural materials are additionally accentuated by the exterior design, i.e. the autochthon grass species, providing a unique sense of privacy.
The interior of the building earmarked for wellness activities is dressed in vinyl, resembling a wicker rope and its walls are coloured with golden tones. The lighting is controlled and stifled. A part of the space designed for relaxation may be divided with semi-translucent curtains, to offer its guests some additional feeling of privacy.
Conforming to the smallness of the building plot, the task of the exterior design was to adjust it to the natural surrounds by means of its amalgamation with the natural scenery. Thus the higher and high plants were planted to offer some more intimacy to separate environments. Thus we used some autochthon planting species, i.e. marsh grasses, birch trees, willows, etc.
AKSL arhitekti ltd.
www.aksl.org
Authors: Špela Leskovic, B.Sc. (Arch.) and Aleš Košak, Grad. Arch.
Collaborator: Tina Vatovec, Grad. Arch.
Design Documents: 02/2007
Year of Execution: 12/2007
Client: NOVI MEDIJI ltd.
Contractor: KEMA Puconci
Graphic* and Fashion** Designers Detailed Explanation (by *Luka Umek and **Barbara Podlogar):
Manhattan
Finding the motive for Manhattan was not difficult at all. The most impressive of course is the panoramic landscape of skyscrapers along the southern part of the Isle. The compactness of the silhouette form is broken by a rough vertical screen, which forms in a steady rhythm, both with positive and negative fields, a recognisable view from the Liberty Statue toward the Brooklyn Bridge.
StorkThis is the only suite in the entire Sončna hiša boasting with graphic equipment in some lively and warm tones. The stylisation is pointillist, meaning that the motive is composed of relatively large coloured circles, enabling some additional airiness of the pattern. The illustration of stork alludes to the newborn children or babies entertaining them in its almost natural height in the “playing nook” or watching them closely while they are fast asleep in their crib.
NaturaHere the serenity and purity of nature are visualised with birch trees. The wall behind the bad is covered by a photographic wallpaper of the birch forest, i.e. white trunks, preserving their whiteness, although their darker parts are coloured with sandy brown tones. This way we softened the contrasts of the photography. The birch motive is repeating again on the decorative pillows and lights. Special about these lights is that the pattern of birch bark appears only when the light is on, whereas it is invisible, when it is switched off.
Sea MemoriesWhat we hauled out from the »sea of possibilities« were actually jellyfish and corals. The single-coloured illustration of jellyfish on the baldachin above the matrimonial bed takes us to the sea depths bringing out some powerful, burning memories. A peculiar contrast to the soft, translucent jellyfish forms the bright red coral with strongly processed raster applied on the decorative pillows.
Lime grassThe photographic wallpaper of the lime grass decorates the wall behind the bed. This visualisation resembles a large, shaggy bush, growing straight from the bed back. This way the graphic element establishes the dialogue with the interior design and forms the integrity of scenographic shapes.
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