Once drill reigned there, now there will be leisure. On Sobieszewska Island Dekpol Developer plans to build an exclusive hotel complex. Not only are the buildings designed by the Sopot-based IDEOGRAF studio unusual, but also the location in the midst of a valuable natural area. Will the right design decisions help avoid harm to the environment?
Dekpol 's new complex will be built in a unique location - in a mid-forest enclave, in the green part of the Sobieszewska Island, located east of the center of Gdansk. On its territory, in addition to several housing estates and holiday resorts, grows almost a thousand hectares of forest. Many of them are extremely valuable natural areas - two nature reserves have been established here, including the Bird Paradise, inhabited by birds in an extraordinary variety of species. The Island is also home to the habitat of the largest of Poland's birds - the White-tailed Eagle. Nearby, among the trees overgrowing the dunes, the investor intends to develop an exclusive hotel complex. What are the assumptions of the project being developed in such an attractive, but also sensitive location?
Hotel complex on the Sobieszewska Island in Gdansk
proj.: Ideograf © press mat.
former commandant, will be concierge
The project is planned on a post-military site in the middle of the Spit Forest, a few hundred meters from both the beach and the housing estates located in the northern part of the Sobieszewska Island. The military center, which included, among other things, an air raid shelter and barracks, was leased by the Military Property Agency back in 2004, along with the entire, already heavily damaged infrastructure. Previously, facilities of the 23rd Air Defense Missile Squadron, which was disbanded in 1999, were located here. Zdzislaw Stecki, who leased the area from the AMW, adapted some of the former military buildings to serve as leisure facilities, running his "Alma 2" resort. As a result of a conflict with the Military Property Agency, he left the site, allowing the buildings to fall into disrepair. At the end of the lease period (the contract was signed for 10 years), the site was bought back for 7 million zlotys by Pinczynski-based Dekpol Developer, which already two years later razed the barracks at the former military base. Now it is starting a new investment at the site - a complex of hotel buildings designed by the Ideograf studio.
A hotel complex on the Sobieszewska Island in Gdansk
proj.: Ideograf © press mat.
The project created by the Sopot-based architectural studio (which also deals with interior design) involves the construction of nine buildings on a plot of over five hectares. The presented buildings rise above the ground to a height of four stories, taking on spun, organic forms. Four of them are planned on a plan resembling a collapsed circle with a triangular section carved out of it, in addition to two each as full circles and ensembles of two circles connected by a batten. The largest of the buildings will be realized on a plan resembling the shape of the letter C.
Hotel complex on the Sobieszewska Island in Gdansk
proj.: Ideograf © press mat.
vacation in a bird's nest
Despite the presence of right angles in the perimeter walls of the designed buildings, the aforementioned rounded forms will be achieved by the way the elevations are developed. This is because the visualizations show buildings in which glazed facades are preceded by vertical light breakers made of wood. These, in turn, are attached to the curved terraces between floors. Together they produce a specific effect reminiscent of a bird's nest, alluding to the environment in which the buildings will be located:
We saw in the bird's nest not only a metaphor for shelter, but also a model of perfect dialogue with place. The nest does not change the landscape - it becomes part of it. This is what we wanted to create a project: quiet, organic, deeply rooted in the nature of the Sobieszewo Island
- explains Paulina Czurak-Czapiewska of the Ideograf studio.
Hotel complex on the Sobieszewska Island in Gdańsk
proj.: Ideograf © press mat.
The buildings of the complex will also serve several other functions - according to documents available on the web, in addition to rooms in the first stage, catering facilities and conference and training rooms will be built. Further on, there will be a building housing a restaurant, a music club, a bowling alley, a swimming pool and a spa area. Underground garages and parking above ground are planned for guests' needs. The entire complex will accommodate more than 1,800 people, who will stay in 673 rooms.
Hotel complex on the Sobieszewska Island in Gdansk
design: Ideograf © press mat.
hotel on the dunes
The area between the buildings will also be developed:
Surrounding the pavilions will be new dunes, heathlands and groves of dwarf pines, created exclusively from native species. Water ponds will attract amphibians, dead wood will become shelter for hedgehogs, and nesting boxes placed on trees and elevations will again invite birds to the island.
- reads the description of the project.
Hotel complex on the Sobieszewska Island in Gdansk
proj.: Ideograf © press mat.
As the lead designer, Paulina Czurak-Czapiewska, assures, the whole project was planned in the spirit of biophilic architecture.
We are not building against man and nature. We are building thanks to them. We want everyone who lives among our pavilions to feel that nature is not decoration, but a source of strength and balance.
- emphasizes the architect.
Hotel complex on the Sobieszewska Island in Gdańsk
proj.: Ideograf © press mat.
ecobuilding in the heart of ekowyspa?
According to the investor, the buildings will occupy the space left by the buildings of the military unit and the resort established there, so there is no need to worry about taking land away from nature. Other design decisions will also reduce the environmental impact - including the construction of the buildings using prefabricated technology, so construction site activities will be less disruptive to the surrounding nature. The roofs of some of the buildings will be green, but it is unclear at this point whether they will become accessible to those staying overnight in hotel rooms. According to an environmental decision issued at the end of 2023, construction work is to be carried out under ornithological supervision in order to protect the natural values of the site.
Hotel complex on Sobieszewska Island in Gdansk
proj.: Ideograf © press mat.
A paradise for holidaymakers - or for birds too?
The Regional Directorate for Environmental Protection in Gdansk has imposed several other obligations on Dekpol Deweloper, related to the project. The biggest threat potentially generated by the planned investment will involve birds, which are a particularly important element of the environment in the area surrounding Dekpol's complex. For two years after the completion of construction, the developer will have to monitor the impact that the buildings have on the populations of birds living on Sobieszewo Island, paying particular attention to cases of animals crashing into the glass facades. If the solutions used in the project do not prove to be sufficient protection, additional markers will have to be installed on the facades. These have already been deliberately protected in the basic version of the project - the light breakers, which bring the buildings closer in appearance to the birds' nests, are probably intended to perform not only an aesthetic function, but also a protective one, informing the animals of the "transparent threat" behind them.
Hotel complex on the Sobieszewska Island in Gdansk
proj.: Ideograf © press mat.
Bird protection will also affect the planned plantings - to further protect birds from hitting the glass surfaces, the buildings will have to be surrounded by tall trees. Taking care of the safety of quadrupeds (wild boars, badgers and even elk, among others, have been found in nearby areas!), on the other hand, will consist primarily in fencing off the hotel area from the west so that animals do not migrate into the complex area.
Hotel complex on the Sobieszewska Island in Gdansk
proj.: Ideograf © press mat.
big profit, even bigger risk
In a distributed communication, Dekpol Developer praises the investment as not using the maximum height of the development. As the environmental decision reveals, it is to be 15 meters high in principle. This will allow the building to be hidden below the tree line so as not to infringe on the protected landscape of Sobieszewo Island. It is worth noting, however, that the cubic volumes of the planned buildings may turn out to be significantly larger than those of the earlier Alma 2 center - in its case, the complex consisted of post-military structures up to three stories in height above ground. The built-up area of the new Dekpol building is expected to be more than 10,000 square meters.
Hotel complex on the Sobieszewska Island in Gdansk
proj.: Ideograf © press mat.
Will the precautionary measures taken by the project team and those required by RDOŚ in Gdansk ensure that the construction of the planned hotel will not have a negative impact on the valuable natural area? As we learn from the environmental decision, the investment itself has not been categorized as significantly threatening the environment. However, it is worth remembering that the impact of construction with a residential function, is characterized by a certain amount of inertia, inextricably linked to the human factor. The complex, which can accommodate more than 1,800 people at a time, will probably not look as idyllic as it does in the visualizations provided by the investor. According to environmental requirements, signs will be installed in the complex to inform people about the natural values of the surrounding area. Their effectiveness will only be measured in practice - only is the risk not too great in this case?
