Uruguay’s new Sacromonte Landscape Hotel is designed to disappear into its surroundings thanks to its mirrored facade. Conceived for wine lovers and designed by MAPA Architects, the hotel is set in the wild sierras of Maldonado, about 30 clicks north of Uruguay’s Punta del Este and José Ignacio, and comprises 13 fully-equipped cabins, a winery, and a farm-to-table restaurant.
The prefab modules were assembled in a factory in Montevideo before being transported 200 km to their final destination. The modular metal structure, a blend of steel framing and light steel framing, gives preference to constructive simplicity and the efficient use of materials. In sharp contrast, the walls supporting the prefab modules are built onsite with local stones and take diverse organic shapes adapted to each placement. Circular pools, composing a new sensory experience of the landscape, complement them.
The façade is composed by a sheet of one-way mirror, covering the cabin with an almost magical effect, creating a tense limit between both the camouflage and the rhythm of nature and the unreal sheen of technology and modern times.
According to the practice, “The spaces are organized in a sequence of longitudinal layers of different thicknesses between which life develops.”
The rear plane of the cabins is composed of piles of wood logs, reminiscent of woodpiles typical of lifestyles in natural settings. The following layer hosts the wet areas such as the bathroom and the kitchen, a fireplace and a reading nook ideal for just reading or sleeping a siesta, sheltered by the landscape. Separated by a wood plane, follows the main space containing the bedroom, living and dining room, which opens fully onto the landscape it is inserted in and of which it is an integral part.
Cabins at the Sacromonte Landscape Hotel start from $700 USD per night.
all images © Leonardo Finotti