Hotel ALHAMBRA

project info /

architects / Amira Čaušević, Tatjana Bilek Žurić, Nataša Škarić, Saša Košutić

lighting designer / Dean Skira

photography / Tamas Bujnovszky, Skira photo

investor / JADRANKA HOTELI d.o.o.

The basic idea of the reconstruction and extension was remodelling in accordance with the new standards and requirements of modern and luxury hotels while preserving and respecting the concept of sustainability and authenticity of the natural and architectural heritage of these buildings and the entire area of Čikat bay.

The history of Hotel Alhambra and Villa Augusta goes back to the beginning of the 20th century in the era of Art Nouveau and historicism, the era of living at a different pace, which the ambience of this hotel tries to remind. The Alhambra building, the work of architect Alfred Keller, was built as a building without ornaments, with a reduced volume, and massive walls with elements of typical traditional Mediterranean design. As a homage to the famous Andalusian palace, the Alhambra, the hotel is immersed in gardens full of Mediterranean greenery, reminiscent of it in the choice of colour and the shape of the facade opening. The Villa Augusta building, with its typical classicist design, is immersed in the atmosphere of the end of the 19th century. It is additionally reminiscent of the Art Nouveau period with its accentuated solid closed volume with the dominating "piano nobile" loggia and geometrized and simplified facade decorations.

The new building is located to the north, behind the existing buildings, following the idea that the architectural concept of the reconstruction and extension of the complex primarily wanted to keep the ambience with the existing Mediterranean greenery and pine trees as a trademark. As for the existing buildings, in the new architectural concept, the original design arrangement of space and volume has been preserved, while also respecting the original layout of the public spaces of the Alhambra Hotel.

Shaping the new wing as a "form that constantly escapes the view", the impression of an unobtrusive, fluid volume was achieved. Thus, the sickle-shaped volume on the north side is functionally shaped in such a way as to receive the visitor and direct him towards the main entrance, while on the south side the volume escapes a view, allowing the autochthonous buildings of the hotel and the villa to have a separate existence in the space.

The central position in the new building is occupied by the main entrance with the reception, common to all three buildings. It is the space that actively cuts through the new building with its volume. Oriented by large glass walls towards the sea, it opens the view through the crowns of magnificent pines towards the Čikat Bay. It is a meeting place, connecting the interior of the hotel with the nature of the bay, where the view "floats" between the volumes of old buildings over the green terraces, getting lost in the pines on the opposite side of the bay.

Boutique-Hotel-Alhambra-brochure-en.pdf