Bayview Hotel Ireland
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Bayview Hotel Brief
The proposed site is located on an existing Car Park located within a town called Courtown on the east Coast of Ireland. The initial Brief was to develop a World Class Hotel which will also facilitate a Sky lounge / function Room rooms, 140 Bedrooms, Bars, Restaurants, a Business centre and a Spa. The drive behind this Hotel was to take advantage of the magnificent sea views the site had to offer and the close proximity to Dublin circa 1 hour dive from the site. The clients wanted the Hotel to be unique in that they wanted the Hotel to have an Irish influence.
Fergus Flanagan Architects
Behind the Design.
The Hotel is designed around three main Irish influences. The National Historic layer, the county layer and the colloquial layer or site specific layer.
The National Layer is picked up with the influence of a Dolmen. Dolmens were burial places for high kings of the past. The structural form is three large Rocks capped with a larger normally flat Rock. This is the main structure of the form of the hotel. Three standing structures holding a larger uniting structure on the top. The benefit of employing this structure is that by slightly twisting each of the accommodation blocks each bedroom will have a Seaview. The capping block not only takes advantage of offering a sky bar lounge and function rooms with a spill out terrace but it creates covered terraces below which given the Irish rainy climate will afford external dining areas regardless of the weather.
The second influence is the county influence. Ireland is made up of 32 counties, the Hotel is located in county Wexford. Wexford is famous for its beautiful beaches, maritime history and its many lighthouses. The most famous of all is Hook Lighthouse which is the oldest operational lighthouse in the world being some 800 years old. This element is picked up on both the entrance to the Business centre but also on the penthouse level that being lit up a night with panoramic glazed façade.
The third influence is the local one, in that forms that would be associated at the beach location. This being sand, curved shells and forms. This is a unifying element which wraps the whole of the ground floor. This is expressed as golden / bronze tiles which will also gleam with the movement of the sun as it does on the sea.
The movement through the building is 100% orientated towards the sea view, with glimpses of the sea viewed when walking through the connecting walkways. All of the glass on the west side of the building above first floor will be opaque to protect the neighbouring houses from being overlooked. This will however reinforce the only view that matters within the Hotel, namely the sea.
We are close to lodging a planning application on this project and the feedback from the planners and locals is very positive. We look froward to developing this to fruition.
