spring garden hostel

spring 2021

Supervisors and Instructors: Jeremy Ficca, Manuel Rodríguez Ladrón de Guevara

Situated alongside the intersection of Vinial Street and Spring Garden Avenue, the hostel is nestled into the existing context. With the shell sheltering the private areas in the program, public spaces are placed outside of the shell and closer to the intersection. The form of the hostel, stemming from a single extruded form, bends and folds to create the building, guided by the center of the adjacent intersection. By shaping the form this way, the building guides visitors into the entrance. Once inside, the linear nature of the space encourages movement to the café or meeting area, leading to the internal courtyard. Alternatively, the visitor can travel upwards to more private spaces.

Because the site is located at the edge of a busy intersection, it is important to consider how the building should relate to surrounding traffic and structures. By creating a entrance that funnels in pedestrian traffic while blocking off noise from the street(see below), it allows for the hostel’s entrance to be relatively removed from the busy street. Additionally, height provides much needed privacy and quiet from the surrounding neighborhood, with programmatic spaces becoming more and more private as one ascends through the structure.