HOTEL AGOBILI SPA RESORT | Abastumani, Georgia | 8,5 ha | 2018-2019

Abastumani is a well-known aerial health resort that dates back to the time of the Russian Tsardom. Despite the economic decline, the small village still bears the signs of its great past. The historical spa heritage is especially visible in its beautiful architecture with wooden buildings and impressive old sulfur thermal baths and hotels. The project site is just a few minutes from the village, in the mountains at an altitude of about 1,500m in the middle of a pine forest – the reason for its fame as a climatic spa. Standing on the building site unused for 20 years, until recently, is a sanatorium. The surrounding 8 hectares of forest had been left unattended.

The basic aim of the design is to create and recreate a spa park with increased intensity, functionality and openness based on the existing forest character. As the distance from the new building increases, the intensity of the landscape architectural intervention decreases. The spatial character of the park is formed by subtraction from the forest volumes through the creation of visual axes inside the site, but also outward into the valley and neighboring landmarks. A trail system is installed to make accessible the different site-epic atmospheres. The path system is designed for an intensive walking tour of about one hour. Along the circuit, a collection of „satellites“ will be developed to serve as destinations as well as to highlight, in particular, interesting parts of the park. Some of the more architectural „satellites“ establish communication between the park and the hotel building itself by allowing view connections.

ARCHITECT: Henning Larsen Architects | CLIENT: Redix Real Estate Management | RENDERINGS: Henning Larsen Architects