At the start of the new year, a uniquely designed "Rock Hotel" by a Polish architect finally opened its doors in Barcelona, a city in northeastern Spain.
Guests at this hotel can not only climb directly onto the massive rocks on the exterior to overlook the cityscape but also sleep right on the edge of steep, narrow "cliffs." The hope is that one day Barcelona will make this design a reality, allowing people to experience the thrill of wilderness camping within the city.
A uniquely designed "Rock Hotel"
This 100-meter-tall creative structure is called the "Barcelona Rock Hotel." Its main body consists of many 4-meter-high boulders embedded in specially reinforced concrete, with gaps between each boulder to allow for ventilation.
The "Rock Hotel" was designed by Poland’s UGO Architecture Company for the 2011 international design competition "Bohemian Backpackers’ Hotel." The competition required each entrant to design a 100-meter-tall, individualized hotel that includes leisure areas, shopping zones, a café, and must become a new landmark for the location where the hotel is built.
According to Hu Gong・Kolwarski, general manager of UGO, the designers drew inspiration from the Montserrat mountain range on the outskirts of Barcelona. They wanted the Rock Hotel to look like it is part of these towering mountains.
In the future, the hotel will feature 50 standard guest rooms as well as advanced recreational facilities such as a swimming pool, gym, café, hot spring bathhouse, shopping mall, and a rock climbing practice wall. Guests who are brave enough can even try sleeping on the narrow cliffs on the hotel’s exterior, falling asleep under the starry sky. Of course, these cliffs are equipped with safety ropes—guests just need to secure themselves, and their safety is guaranteed.