WILD PLACES
The hotel offers guided day trips on a private
yacht to explore the local scenery and wildlife
architectural language to follow,” he says. “We had to come up with something com- pletely new, for the location on top of a dead volcano. It was about following our hearts. “I wanted to make sure the hotel touched the site as little as possible, because it’s very delicate, and also I wanted to ensure the con- struction process wasn’t invasive. We needed a cradle to coffi n approach, so that when this building needs to be dismantled one day, it can be done as cleanly as possible.” The topography – a half moon crater, cov-
ered with vegetation – didn’t lend itself to a building which was designed to blend in: “It’s absolutely magical, but there are hills and no trees,” says Plaza. It wouldn’t have been pos- sible to create a building which would blend in with the landscape. If I’d tried to do that it would have stood out more. I wanted to create a building which would hardly touch the land.” To be respectful to the site, Plaza designed trusses with joints which only touch the
62
CLADGLOBAL.COM
ground at two points and then span a huge distance. Some bungalows, to be built as part of a second phase, have been designed to allow water and animals to pass underneath.
Orientation Because the view is the USP, there’s a lot of glass in the building, so to stop the rooms getting too hot, there’s a roof overhang and the building is orientated so as to not get direct sunlight for too much of the day. Plaza’s fi rst choice of material was wood, but because there’s a ban on bringing live materials onto the island, to avoid importing insects, this was ruled out. Metal was selected as the most appropriate material and as the site is 400m above sea level and 10k from the coast, there is no issue with frost or salt in the atmosphere. The metal ele- ments were pre-shaped on the mainland and welded on-site. This made construction light and touched the ground as little as possible.
About Pikaia Lodge
Pikaia Lodge, which has a resident giant tortoise as one of its attractions, offers 3.5km of trails within its boundaries and an infi nity pool, spa, 29 deluxe rooms, bar, dining and lounge areas. It offers the most luxurious way of experiencing the Galapagos Islands. There are fi xed arrival and departure dates for three, four and seven night packages, including all meals and excursions on the island and to neighbouring islands, via the resort’s yacht. Visitors can partake in activities
such as visits to volcanic craters, lava tunnels, the Charles Darwin Scientifi c Research Center or snorkelling, scuba diving, sea kayaking, mountain biking and catch and release fi shing.
CLADmag 2015 ISSUE 2
Page 1 |
Page 2 |
Page 3 |
Page 4 |
Page 5 |
Page 6 |
Page 7 |
Page 8 |
Page 9 |
Page 10 |
Page 11 |
Page 12 |
Page 13 |
Page 14 |
Page 15 |
Page 16 |
Page 17 |
Page 18 |
Page 19 |
Page 20 |
Page 21 |
Page 22 |
Page 23 |
Page 24 |
Page 25 |
Page 26 |
Page 27 |
Page 28 |
Page 29 |
Page 30 |
Page 31 |
Page 32 |
Page 33 |
Page 34 |
Page 35 |
Page 36 |
Page 37 |
Page 38 |
Page 39 |
Page 40 |
Page 41 |
Page 42 |
Page 43 |
Page 44 |
Page 45 |
Page 46 |
Page 47 |
Page 48 |
Page 49 |
Page 50 |
Page 51 |
Page 52 |
Page 53 |
Page 54 |
Page 55 |
Page 56 |
Page 57 |
Page 58 |
Page 59 |
Page 60 |
Page 61 |
Page 62 |
Page 63 |
Page 64 |
Page 65 |
Page 66 |
Page 67 |
Page 68 |
Page 69 |
Page 70 |
Page 71 |
Page 72 |
Page 73 |
Page 74 |
Page 75 |
Page 76 |
Page 77 |
Page 78 |
Page 79 |
Page 80 |
Page 81 |
Page 82 |
Page 83 |
Page 84 |
Page 85 |
Page 86 |
Page 87 |
Page 88 |
Page 89 |
Page 90 |
Page 91 |
Page 92 |
Page 93 |
Page 94 |
Page 95 |
Page 96 |
Page 97 |
Page 98 |
Page 99 |
Page 100 |
Page 101 |
Page 102 |
Page 103 |
Page 104 |
Page 105 |
Page 106 |
Page 107 |
Page 108 |
Page 109 |
Page 110 |
Page 111 |
Page 112 |
Page 113 |
Page 114 |
Page 115 |
Page 116 |
Page 117 |
Page 118 |
Page 119 |
Page 120 |
Page 121 |
Page 122 |
Page 123 |
Page 124 |
Page 125 |
Page 126 |
Page 127 |
Page 128 |
Page 129 |
Page 130 |
Page 131 |
Page 132