Via Diagonalis
The Via Diagonalis hotel manages to overcome its challenges by respecting the memory of central city areas in Plovdiv and adapting to the existing and modern urban environment. Its architectural design and materials are in line with the existing urban silhouette and it is regarded as a high-end boutique hotel thanks to its modern trends and technologies, including eco-friendly materials that are part of its overall concept and implementation. Furthermore, Via Diagonalis is a building with clear economic viability and has clear and diverse functional groups working in harmony with each other, making the best use of its spaces for maximum economic returns.
The property
The result of the urban planning required a detailed examination of numerous options for organizing the spaces and functions of the building, in order to find the best one.
Modern urban environment
The solution for the composition of two rectangular volumes, subject to the street frontages and slopes, is designed to maximize the utilization of interior spaces while creating a logical continuation of the silhouettes of the modern urban environment. The volumes intersect at a 50-degree angle, creating a break oriented towards the sloping space.
Ancient systems
The specificity of the location is the simultaneous existence of two systems - modern and ancient. The desire for the building to revive the memory of the place leads to the reduction of volumes and height, creating a “dance through time”.
City planning
The objective is to maximize the use of urban planning parameters and distances, and achieve the maximum allowed building density by using a stepped design that adjusts the height of the floors. This way, a visual connection between the two systems is maintained.
Spaces for people
The design of a building and its surroundings must take into account the needs of people who will use it. The building should not only meet the requirements of investors, but also be harmoniously connected with the surrounding spaces so that it functions well and is well received by people. The planned approaches and greens paces flow from the context to the interior of the building.
The fourth dimension
The building’s facade design is again subject to the seamless connection between past, present and future. Massive stone and ethereal glass volumes rise from solid to transparency, depicting the historical development of technologies and building elements in construction. As a result of this graduation, unique views of the cityscape and silhouettes are revealed from the upper floor rooms through larger windows, while rooms on lower levels receive greater insulation from the street front through smaller glass openings.
