2013 Galleries

Galleries // 2013 Spark:Space // Ion Luxury Adventure Hotel

Ion Luxury Adventure Hotel

Winner - Platinum

Competition: Spark:Space
Designer: Tryggvi Erla Minarc
Design Type: Hotel - EcoDesign
Company / Organization / School: Minarc
Website: http://www.minarc.com
Team Members: Erla Dögg Ingjaldsdóttir Tryggvi Thorsteinsson

The vision for the Ion Luxury Adventure Hotel was truly holistic, requiring a design that reflects the natural beauty of the region with clarity and simplicity, in a manner that is environmentally considerate, while appealing to the desire for luxury that attracts the upscale adventurer—a desire that has been redefined by expressions of luxury that are smaller, more personal and intimate, and eco-responsive. Knowing this, and understanding that a built environment often has a profound impact on the natural environment, our approach was to create a hotel experience as dramatic and otherworldly as the natural Icelandic surroundings, where the built and natural environments can coexist, integrate, even synergize. The hotel property features one of Iceland’s most breathtaking natural settings. Near Thingvellir National Park, it is beautifully situated on the multicolored slopes of Mt. Hengill, with a dramatic view of Lake Thingvallavatn and the mountains surrounding the lake. With respect for nature, the hotel incorporates innovative materials, sustainable practices, and the natural features of Iceland into its design— an understated design that allows the extraordinary landscape to take center stage. The Ion Hotel emerges from the moss covered mountain base like an enormous post pile wrapped in a sheath of hardened lava. The mnmMOD prefabricated, panelized building system used for both the new extension and original structure achieves both aesthetic and environmental objectives. Beneath its stark appearance, which could easily be mistaken for part of the evolving landscape, is a high performance system that maximizes energy efficiency with a reduced carbon footprint.