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FOREST HOTEL

undergraduate project / 1988

The site is deep in the Northern Pine woods of Canada. It is directly over a waterfall that drops into a deep rocky gorge. The massive vertical stone elements of the hotel echo the cliffs and the verticality of the surrounding Pine trees in which it is nestled. Within the building these vertical slabs function as circulation, structure and water/bathing space. The glass ‘trays’ and terraces cascade to the south over a glass and steel framed box which serves as the central gathering space and living room. The pinwheel of the plan graphically spins activity out of the enclosure of the structure and into the surrounding landscape, subverting the primacy of the building. These axis fly out to create a series of follies through out the site for sun-bathing, canoeing and hiking. Overall the design has sought to preserve as much of the land as possible and focus the visitors activity towards the boundless outdoor spaces that drew them there in the first place.