On April 08, 2008 JDS architects of Copenhagen and Brandsberg-Dahls Arkitekter of Stavanger have won the invited competition for a new hotel building in the Norwegian city of Stavanger.

The Two Seasons will house over 200 rooms on 8,500 square meters, that float over an existing parking garage, shops and cafés on ground floor.

Located along a busy street in the Stavanger city center, the site is dynamically positioned between an old residential neighborhood and much larger government buildings and towers.

The design for the three star hotel integrates a private program with a public urban space, creating new experiences for both.

The main volume of the hotel arranges the rooms in a ribbon configuration that floats above the existing parking garage on the site.

Lifting the hotel rooms from the street provides privacy for the visitors, while creating a ground floor activated by shops, a restaurant and a cafe, in addition to the hotel lobby.

The floating ribbon takes advantage of the elevated site, with its views of the city center and the surrounding mountains. The formal manipulations within the height regulations allow the hotel to have a diversity of views for all occupants.
The walkable programed roof terrace, cozy interior garden and conference facility on the skyline create literal and visual connections with the environment rarely found in an urban three star hotel.

Directly adjacent to the site, a new pedestrian street will enliven the area. To further activate this new public space, the ground floor is programed with a cafe and bakery to enhance public facilities along the street.

The hotel ground floor also ties itself into the site by providing for a public passage that connects Lokkeveien to Olav Kryttes Gate. The hotel restaurant and the cafe/bakery program therefore serves as a concentrated zone of public traffic that integrates the ground floor into its urban surroundings.

See the other finalists of the competition here.