Typology: Hospitality • Recreation

Helios Hotel

The project concerns the complete renovation, expansion, and modernization of the existing Helios Hotel, as well as its upgrade to a 4-star hotel. The hotel is located on the beach of Amoopi, in the Community of Menetes, Municipality of Karpathos, on a plot of 11,617.37 sq.m., and has a total capacity of 55 rooms and 126 beds.

The aim of the project is for the hotel, upon completion of the renovation, to operate as a modern 4-star hotel unit that meets all the legal requirements, follows the most up-to-date operational standards based on HACCP, ISO 9001, and ISO 22000, is accessible and friendly to guests with disabilities (PWDs), and above all, is environmentally friendly.

The complex consists of seven (7) buildings with a total area of 2,724 sq.m. The renovation includes both the rooms and the common areas, the upgrade of the building envelope, as well as the landscaping of the surrounding outdoor areas.

The exterior configuration of the buildings generally follows the existing massing of the complex in terms of the segmentation of the individual volumes. The architectural style is minimalist, with clean volumes and an alternation of closed, open, and semi-outdoor spaces. The rooms feature large openings to ensure natural lighting and improved views of the gardens and the sea.

The materials used are modern and environmentally friendly and include stone cladding on the verandas, plaster coating in gray tones, glass railings made of safety glazing, aluminum frames in gray tones, wooden partition screens, and wooden pergolas covered with woven willow panels to provide sun protection for both exterior and interior spaces.

The design of the fully renovated outdoor area includes the entrance and exit of the complex with provision for temporary bus parking for guest drop-off and pick-up, 55 parking spaces, walkways for easy access to all buildings and the beach, and landscaped areas with tall and low greenery. It also includes three (3) swimming pools — one for adults, one for children, and one shared among seven (7) private beach beds, along with a pool bar and a beach bar for the convenience of the customers.

Daios Luxury Living

The building is located where the old American consulate used to be, close to the White Tower, at the joint of Niki’s Avenue and Chr. Snirnis. It is a luxurious flat building with shops on the ground floor and three-storey underground parking. The building is transparent. All the solid elements of its façades were removed and replaced with glassed surfaces allowing the view to the sea. To avoid the noise and luminance problems a secondary external glassed façade at balconies level was designed, having the shape of a sail.

Olympos – Naoussa Building

In one of the most recognizable spots of Thessaloniki, on its coastal front on Leoforos Nikis Avenue, the project highlights and utilizes the facade of a listed building, the historic restaurant Olympus – Naoussa, built in 1926 and designed by architect Jacques Mosse.
The project anticipates the preservation, restoration and integration of the listed facade of the historic building in a modern, multi-storey, luxurious “boutique” hotel.
The design carried out by METE SYSM appertained to the retaining structure of the listed facade during the construction of the new building, the 8-storey with two basements new building and the integration of the listed facade into it.
The retaining of the facade, respecting the architectural peculiarities of the existing construction, while satisfying the construction requirements of the work site, was carried out with six properly arranged steel frames with bi-directional diagonal bracings of adequate resistance and stiffness for resisting the horizontal wind and earthquake actions. On either side of the listed masonry, UPN cross-section beams are arranged, tightening it like a splint, which are connected to the steel frames through cantilever beams, transferring to them the horizontal wind and earthquake loads. Both the temporary retaining structure and the listed facade are supported by properly arranged micropiles.
The new permanent structure is entirely made of reinforced concrete. To maximize the safety of adjacent buildings against displacements during excavation and to save construction time, the method of simultaneous Up and Down Construction has been chosen. Special consideration was taken into the integration of the listed facade in the new construction, which is ensured by the proper arrangement of special anchors and nails. The foundation of the new construction consists of a reinforced concrete diaphragm at the perimeter and of diaphragmatic elements (barrettes) of rectangular cross section on the inside.

Villaggio Hotel

The project concerns the Design of Villaggio Hotel, a five-star hotel, located at Doha, Qatar. The total hotel room capacity is 213 guestrooms comprising of 132 standard rooms, 40 executive rooms, 10 junior suites, 20 one-bedroom suites, 10 two-bedroom suites and one presidential suite. The total built up area of the Hotel is 50.635 sq. m.
The hotel extends at 8 levels. Basement including 300 parking spaces, ground floor including the entrance lobby, cafes, restaurants, ballrooms and other common facilities, a partial service mezzanine, a second mezzanine including club lounge, specialty restaurant, gym-spa and certain guestrooms with private gardens, 3 main floors with guestrooms and a rooftop restaurant. Guestroom floors are organized in two wings, parallel to the main roads in the north-west end of the site. At mezzanine level an extended terrace is provided including a swimming pool with pool bar, restaurant’s outdoor spaces and planted areas.
The building has two public entrances: a main entrance for the Hotel (west façade) and a ballroom entrance (east façade). Both entrances include sheltered spaces in front of them. A third service – staff entrance is provided with loading bay, which is optically isolated through a special peristyle formation.
The main lobby of the hotel constitutes a tall double height space, which unifies the various levels giving grandeur and luxury to the building. Additionally all guestroom floors are unified through openings created at floor slabs. The formed vertical spaces (atriums) are covered by glazed roofs bringing natural light inside the building. The main lobby is directly connected to the adjacent Villaggio Mall.
The building is served at all levels by a central vertical communication core with 6 main lifts and three service cores, each of which includes 2 lifts (for clean – soiled materials/waste) and an attached escape staircase. There is no interference between FOH and BOH circulation.
The basement garage is accessed by two separate ramps, one for entrance (east side) and one for exit (west side). The parking layout is suitable for parking either by valets or by self-parking.
Landscape design includes sheltered drop off areas in front of the two entrances, reflected pools, parking spaces and planted areas.
The morphology of the building has references to the Renaissance period, according to client’s requirement. Facades’ configuration follows the typical division ‘base-stem-head’. Balconies and windows follow a symmetrical and repetitive arrangement. Façades are enriched with many decorative elements such as arcades, pilasters, columns, capitals, lintels, cornices, balustrades, statues and other ornamental features of the period. Decoration is heavier at the ‘base’ and gets lighter at the ‘stem’ of the building. The ‘head’-third floor appears as a mansard roof with dormer windows. A grand dome at the corner of the building signifies the importance of the building and emphasizes its monumental character.
Internal public space design follows the same style of the façades, highlighted by elaborated decorative features (curtains, rugs, special furniture, chandeliers etc.). The big atrium connecting the lobby with the guestroom floors carries a façade relevant to the exterior thus connecting perceptually inside with the outside.
Mezzanine terrace is enclosed by an arcade which is the continuity of the relevant decorative element of the façade, providing privacy to the area. A similar arcade with glass windows acts as a screen that divides the public terrace from the private guestroom gardens, isolating public from private use. The isolation is enhanced by dense planting on both sides of the screen.
The proposal aims at providing the hotel with a strong identity that will make it the focal point of the district.