INDIGO PATAGONIA HOTEL is situated along the maritime passage of Puerto Natales, entrance to the Torres del Paine National Park. It is has six levels with 29 bedrooms and a Spa on top of the building.
The Project is organized around three main ideas. First: to discover the building as a voyager who experience places not at once but through continuous steps. Second: to be sensitive with the site and its provincial character and lack of “noise” .Thirdly: to radically differentiate the intimate space of the sleeping rooms from the monumental space of public areas .
With regard to the first idea, and in order to show the inner void of public spaces not at once but at fragmented glances, we proposed an inner circulation that goes from street level to upper level evolving from a soft ramp to a system of staircases and from corridors to bridges in a way that horizontal and vertical movement become an orchestrated coreography within the building .
Regarding the second idea, and in order to match some qualities of the context in the exterior expression of the building we used: a) materials already present in the town such as timber and corrugated steel, b) a simple volume that occupies the all site and c) a systematic rhythm of windows. More specifically, we proposed a volume that recreates the differentiation that quiet often is seen in Puerto Natales between those front elevations that face the street and those lateral elevations that face the sides of the sites . Consequently: for street facades we used corrugated steel and for side facades we used treated pine.
With regard to the third idea, and in order to highlight the intimacy of sleeping-rooms, we generated an horizontal strata made out of pine that incorporates all usable surfaces in the room such as beds, lavatories, tables and bay windows. On the contrary, public spaces are mainly vertical spaces were a huge shutter or curtain made out eucalyptus bars is always present.
Finally it is important to mention that graphic desing was worked together with architecture. Under the concept of using some iconography already present in the area we adopted the universe of maritime container an ships in general to creates signals on the facades and the interior spaces that reminds Navimag, the only ship that every Thursday arrives to Puerto Natales bringing foods and fresh news to the deep south.
INDIGO PATAGONIA Restaurant and LOUNGE In association with architect XIMENA GARCIA-HUIDOBR0, “Indigo Patagonia Restaurant and Lounge” was finished at the beginning of January 2007. It is located beside “Indigo Patagonia Hotel” in an old Patagonian house . The work done consisted in voiding the core of the house and reinforcing the perimeter walls with a steel frame . In order to interconnect the existing two stories we emptied the center with a “y” shape void . This void is occupied by an extended platform and staircase that extend time of passing from one level to another, making the exhibition of people part of the choreography of space. The restaurant is located in ground level and lounge is upstairs.
