ALACATI Hotel & Beach Site Planning – Landscape Design

Alacatı, a county of Izmir, on the Aegean, which lays between Turkey and Greece, is known for its windiness, sandy bays, and typical architecture with cut stone houses. Being one of the most attractive spots for windsurfers across the world, the town is defined as “where the world dances with the wind”.

The project scope is comprised of a hotel and a beach right next to the windsurf schools on this magnificent holiday destination.

 The landscaping concept has been designed taking the natural beauty of the area into account.

The sunbathing areas on the wavy beach are designed in colorful wave forms dancing on various levels, benefiting from the elevation difference of the area.

The top level, laying on the same level with the hotel entrance, is planned with a schemato host open-air organizations.

In order to build a communication among the dancing geometry of the beach area, the hotel structure and the activity space in the garden, the landscaping areas from the garden to the beach reflect a grid system. Meanwhile, the curved buggy road coming from the beach is stretched to the hotel garden to reinforce the relationship between the in- and outdoor spaces.

Especially on the beach side, the transitions between the levels is formed with the geogrid system to maintain the soil stabilization. This detail enabled the minimization of RC works on the beach section.

The windy nature of the region is taken into account in designing the herbal landscaping of the site. On the beach and hotel’s façade facing the sea, species that are resistant to wind and salt sprays have been preferred. On the other hand, the hotel plan consists an inner courtyard, which facilitated the use of certain Mediterranean and semi-tropical plants, which can endure the micro-climate of the region. Thus, the hotel and beach guests will be offered different experiences in terms of landscaping areas.

One last touch is the make-up of the landscaping detail: Since the directions of the winds are taken into consideration in designing the herbal structure, the winds will be brining different herbal scents to the guests in different spots of the hotel and the beach.