Conference Center. Hyatt Dorado Beach Hotel
Dorado, Puerto Rico, 1990
Marvel Flores Cobian & Asociados.
Thomas S. Marvel with Jose Marchand, Project architect.
Client: Hyatt Hotel Corporation
Approximate cost: US$2,800,000.00
Photographs by
Interior, Hyatt Hotel.
Since its beginnings in the 1950's, the Dorado Beach Hotel has maintained its position as a resort where the dominating elements are the natural landscape and the sea shore. The luxuriant tropical landscape serves as an elegant setting for the buildings which have been added to the site over the years.
Within this context the development of the Convention Center was conceived to provide facilities for small convention gatherings and meetings that compliment the existing activities of the hotel.
The design concept is a multilayered plan. The first layer is the natural landscape richly planted with flowering shrubs and set in the existing forest of palms and almond trees. The next layer is made up of the entrance court and outdoor terraces defined by steps, pergolas and patterns of a cement grid in the lawn. The third layer is of roofed break out spaces and the entrance lobby, all with a visual linkage to the outer views and terraces. The most interior space is the flexible interior meeting room itself, divisible into multi spaces as required. By virtue of the other layers of architectural space, the interior most room is largely isolated from direct contact with the natural setting outside. It becomes an entity in itself.
The design vocabulary is rooted in the verandahs and lofty interior patios of traditional buildings in the West Indies. Elements of tropical architecture such as deep shading devices, arcades, terracota tiles, and ceiling moulding details crafted in wood have been incorporated into the interior setting.
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