If Hobbits built a luxury hotel, it would probably look something like the new design concept from Stefano Boeri Architetti’s (SBA) hill-inspired Mountain Forest Hotel, a 250-room vertical forest that appears to grow right out of the surrounding landscape.
According to SBA’s website, this is actually SBA’s third vertical forest design, the first prototype appearing in Milan, which was then followed up with The Tower of the Cedars in Lausanne, Switzerland. While the Mountain Forest Hotel uses many of the same design principles as those previous efforts, the hotel has been specifically designed from and inspired by Guizhou, China’s topography, an area known as the 10 thousand peaks valley. The specific design of the hotel looks to reconstruct a former hill that was flattened out years ago.
SBA does not view these vertical forests as a gimmick or a novelty, but, instead, a necessity. “The symbiosis between man, architecture and nature is the real sustainability,” SBA writes about the project on its website. “Following the first prototype in Milan, then in Lausanne, the Vertical Forest is continuously consolidated as a model for a sustainable urbanization.”
Symbiosis and sustainability may be the key, but this is still designed as a luxury hotel, meaning it includes such features as a gym, lounge, VIP area, bar, restaurant, and conference room.
Rendering courtesy of Stefano Boeri Architetti
Related Stories
| Aug 11, 2010
See what $3,000 a month will get you at Chicago’s Aqua Tower
Magellan Development Group has opened three display models for the rental portion of Chicago’s highly anticipated Aqua Tower, designed by Jeanne Gang. Lease rates range from $1,498 for a studio to $3,111 for a two-bedroom unit with lake views.
| Aug 11, 2010
Architecture Billings Index flat in May, according to AIA
After a slight decline in April, the Architecture Billings Index was up a tenth of a point to 42.9 in May. As a leading economic indicator of construction activity, the ABI reflects the approximate nine to twelve month lag time between architecture billings and construction spending. Any score above 50 indicates an increase in billings.
| Aug 11, 2010
Construction employment declined in 333 of 352 metro areas in June
Construction employment declined in all but 19 communities nationwide this June as compared to June-2008, according to a new analysis of metropolitan-area employment data released today by the Associated General Contractors of America. The analysis shows that few places in America have been spared the widespread downturn in construction employment over the past year.
| Aug 11, 2010
Casino Queen breaks ground on $2.15 million entertainment venue
The Casino Queen in East St. Louis, Ill., is raising the stakes in its bid to capture a larger share of the local gaming market with the start of construction on a new $2.15 million sports bar and entertainment venue that will enhance the overall experience for guests.
| Aug 11, 2010
Outdated office tower becomes Nashville’s newest boutique hotel
A 1960s office tower in Nashville, Tenn., has been converted into a 248-room, four-star boutique hotel. Designed by Earl Swensson Associates, with PowerStrip Studio as interior designer, the newly converted Hutton Hotel features 54 suites, two penthouse apartments, 13,600 sf of meeting space, and seven “cardio” rooms.
| Aug 11, 2010
Arup, SOM top BD+C's ranking of the country's largest mixed-use design firms
A ranking of the Top 75 Mixed-Use Design Firms based on Building Design+Construction's 2009 Giants 300 survey. For more Giants 300 rankings, visit http://www.BDCnetwork.com/Giants
| Aug 11, 2010
10% of world's skyscraper construction on hold
Emporis, the largest provider of global building data worldwide, reported that 8.7% of all skyscrapers listed as "under construction" in its database had been put on hold. Most of these projects have been halted in the second half of 2008. According to Emporis statistics, the United States had been hit the worst: at the beginning of 2008, "Met 3" in Miami was the only U.S. skyscraper listed as being "on hold". In the second half of the year, 19 projects followed suit.
