Nautilus, the Europe’s tallest wooden hotel

Born in Italy (to weigh in on the riviera Adriatic) the Europe’s tallest wooden hotel: 28 metres high, 7 floors, 2 months of work to design and large panels in laminated wood. A curiosity: it took 15 heavy transport to bring in the pipeline over 788 cubic meters of wood, together with 239mila screws and steel connections 4600 for the joining of panels.

The Hotel Nautilus is an innovative project designed by architect Marco Gaudenzi, which is characterized by the high standards of sustainability and energy conservation, and the use of natural materials from the territory. Like wood, brought to shore by sea and collected directly on the coast, with which they were made the reception counter, tables in the halls mark the doors to the rooms and the headboards of the beds and bedside tables.

Attention to the use of renewable energy also drove the installation of two different solar PV rooftop system with an output of 19 Kwp and a second heating system for hot water supply can ensure 60% of requirements.

Bio-architecture and marine influences

Bio-architecture principles appear to unite with the typical Atlantic furniture, soft colours and references to the sea, not only in the bedrooms but also in public areas. The bar, for example, stands for school film coated with a metallic patchwork which resembles the keel of a big ship, from which the peaks that surround the support columns.

The advantages of wood

Speed of implementation and environmental sustainability are not the only advantages that guided designers in choice of wood.

The structure of the Hotel Nautilus could withstand a magnitude 8 Quake with an oscillation of the Summit of the building of just 3 cm!

Furthermore, despite seems paradoxical, a wooden building constructed with techniques that resists better to fires, with burning times longer than those of cement while maintaining structural integrity even after many hours of fire attack. The strength we add saving values particularly advantageous, especially for a Hotel that must maintain ideal conditions climate control throughout the year.

The natural insulating properties of wood, in this case, minimizes the use of air conditioning in summer and heating in winter, maintaining optimum humidity in each area of the building and reducing energy expenses.