Project: Bodrum Loft Hotel
Architects: Tabanlioglu Architects
Lead Architects: Melkan Gursel, Murat Tabanlioglu
Location: Mugla, Turkey
Area: 21600 m2
Year: 2020
Photographs: Cemal Emden, Marc Goodwin, Christopher Kennedy
The main concern was to provide a layout that would be suitable for a number of operational schemas. With reference to topography and the nature of the region, the angles of sun, winds, greenery, and slopes of the terrain guided the land use of the program housing hotel, private units, and social areas which are constituents of the summer resort project in Bodrum.
Architectural language blends with the unique topography, responding to and reshaping it without disturbing its essential qualities. Clad mainly with pine trees and Mediterranean foliage, the trees of the land were documented, and the project is designed and -where necessary- revised accordingly. Strong in architectural intentions, yet blending perfectly within the setting, units are placed with a certain precision.
A mixture of open, semi-open, and closed areas is the core of the design. Integrated with nature, the sun and the breeze welcomed the units in a controlled attitude, a natural climatization for hot summer days. Meanwhile, all the blocks are positioned to capture the sea view. The balances of light and shadow, vibration and tranquility, sub-rosa and communal have been practiced in the physical existence of the project.
Taking inspiration from the way neighboring old towns connect to the land and its surroundings, their relation to the human and non-human world, vernacular responses to the climatic and light conditions, settlement patterns, and cultural uses of the built environment that in turn, are methods to comprehend the ‘genius loci’, the design seeks to implement strategies and approaches that connect to them.
The spirit of the land lives, within the layout, voids, and corridors, open spaces and their relations, coastal use, and overall settlement ideas. Modesty has been the core of the design decision with reference to the attitude of local architecture and respecting the existing nature, supported by using local building materials.
The blending of the man-made to the natural is strengthened via the use of materials. The materials used are locally sourced and utilized “raw”, including wood and reed, which will in turn, provides a built environment that seeks low maintenance, and weathering aesthetically.
The Bodrum Loft Hotel, embedded in its setting, is inspirational in how it blends into the landscape. Stones, excavated on the site, are re-purposed and used in façades, pedestrian walkways, retaining walls, and structural elements alike. The texture and color of the concrete is a direct result of aggregate from the site, binding the buildings more to their backgrounds. Facilities on the shore are located on the rocks, touching but not harming them, and extending to the sea.
