'Design was crucial to our storytelling': how a German coastal hotel changed the landscape

Not many architectural projects require maps of the area to be updated. But, then again, not many projects are as sensitively considered as the Lighthouse Hotel & Spa in Büsum, North Germany.

It could have gone so wrong. But local architect Thomas Ladehoff – in close collaboration with hotelier and creative sparring partner Jens Sroka – managed to deliver a 108-room destination that, through its clever voluminal articulation and constructional materials, respects both the scale and the vernacular language of its environs – and most importantly mitigates its partial obstruction of the 110-year-old lighthouse next to which it sits and from which it takes its name.

'We decided to incorporate a light into the hotel structure itself,' explains Ladehoff. 'Every map used by nautical sailors had to be updated.'

Inside, meanwhile, Sroka was keen to leverage high-end design to create a storytelling-rich experience for customers. Common spaces such as the restaurants and bars, as well as private guest rooms, speak of the coastal and the nautical, without lapsing into cliché. In the lobby, for example, a large, open spiral staircase functions simultaneously as circulation route and reference to a lighthouse’s interior.

When it came to the bathroom fittings, Sroka was keen to specify award-winning German brand HEWI. ‘It was the look and feel, and the quality of the product. It had to be a certain size, it had to be durable, and of course have the right finish.’ Moreover, it was critical for him that the same quality experience be provided to users of the hotel’s accessible bathrooms. Again, HEWI was a strong fit here, given their track record in offering products for care settings that neither look nor feel like traditional barrier-free fittings.

Watch the video now to discover more about this unique project.

© Architonic