This hotel is a boutique hotel with total area of 5, 100 m2, located in Kandovan Village, in Sahand Mountain of East Azerbaijan Province, 50km to the southwest of Tabriz-Iran, within the framework of an EPC contract. The hotel consists of 15 suites excavated into the volcano rocks in the same manner the local people have developed their houses for more than 700 years.
Considering the fact that Kandovan Village had maintained its traditional lifestyle over nearly 7 centuries, it was essentially important not to affect the natural texture of the village by the building and meanwhile provide comfort of an upscale property to the hotel guests. Accordingly, it was decided to develop the hotel rooms exactly in the same manner that the local people dug their houses into the surrounding volcano rocks.
This was quite the challenge in design and construction As we had to find out the optimum excavation depth to maintain stability of the rock structure. Therefore, the design was practically develop at site after finalizing dimensions of each suite. Another important challenge was the limited design and construction time, due in part to the climatic conditions of the village.
A development plan was also prepared for the hotel including back of the house and public areas, some of which were not constructed. The project was the honorable mention of Asian Architecture Awards 2016 for maintaining the natural-historical structure of the village.
