Form, landscape, language

Hotel Elements Terschelling

The hotel is currently under construction and carefully positioned in the building envelop of a former abandoned building. The integration of the new volume into the natural landscape is achieved by creating a head and tail volume, and by patterns, lines and setbacks, breaking the scale.

Its robust material identity is based on the dune houses MKA has designed on the island and inspired by a fully timber built hotel in Sonoma (CA) called Sea Ranch which Marc visited in 2012.

Every design decision, regarding shape, materials and construction method, is made based on limiting the impact on the dune landscape, while at the same time maximizing the benefits for the island’s inhabitants. The hotel reacts to the surrounding height differences and is gently sunken in to the dunes.

Stepped terraces follow the naturally created slopes. Greyed wood and sand colored concrete reference the colours from the surroundings.