Work submitted for the competition
"Best Diploma Architecture".
The subject of the thesis is the design of a sports guesthouse on Mount Prusov. The aim of the project is to show a wide range of opportunities for active leisure in a mountainous environment while maintaining the aesthetic qualities of the design site.
location
© Jakub Jopek
The concept of the guesthouse provides great attractiveness both functionally and programmatically, in addition, it increases the continuity of tourist traffic regardless of the seasons, and the large-scale impact will positively contribute to the benefits of both neighboring communities and the entire region. The subject of the work achieves the objectives of the Program for Tourism Development in the Silesian Voivodeship 2020+, which emphasizes the importance of the essence of building the image of the Silesian region as "a destination with a rich year-round tourist offer through the promotion of tourist attractions in both the summer and winter seasons in the southern part of the Silesian Voivodeship."
A project for a sports mountain guesthouse in the Żywiec Beskids
© Jakub Jopek
The designed facility, according to the program's guidelines, will be characterized by high attractiveness and a high standard of tourist and related infrastructure, as well as creativity in tourism creating a strong territorial brand. The motivation for taking up the topic was the desire to solve the problems of tourist centers in the Żywiec Beskid. Numerous negligence in the operation of such facilities contributes to the negative impact on the places where they are located and, consequently, on the tourists using them. As a result of the overlapping problems, mountain resorts are often an unattractive part of mountain hiking and only an unfortunate constraint on tourist trails.
solid axonometry
© Jakub Jopek
The proposed facility would address many of the current problems of mountain resorts. The newly designed hostel will have a rich year-round tourist offer for both summer and winter seasons. The envisaged amenities will allow for regular annual revenues by creating a hybrid of a mountain hostel and a ski resort. The procedure is intended to activate the region and the local economy, as well as provide an alternative to winter tourism in case of unfavorable ski conditions.
cross sections
© Jakub Jopek
Prusov Mountain, although it meets all the criteria to become a nationally recognized tourist center linking the other mountain resorts in Beskid Zywiecki, has never received a proper design and planning approach, and for this reason its enormous potential has not been fully exploited.
elevation
© Jakub Jopek
The proposed architectural form was subordinated to the current state of the project plot, whose topography sloping in three directions opens up views to the north-east and west. The main asset of the concept is the facility's roof, which has many uses, but the most important is the possibility to use it like a natural link between two hills. Tourists can walk on it as if it were naturally formed terrain, and the connection of the designed roof to the main hiking trail lends continuity and unifies the facility with the mountain tourist infrastructure, so that the facility remains hidden and, despite its volume, unobtrusive in the landscape. The grassy covering of the facility is a nod to nature, to which the treatment reflects the appropriated space.
Design of a sports mountain guesthouse in the Żywiec Beskid Mountains
© Jakub Jopek
The form of the roof tries to reproduce the topographical shape of the hill on which the building is planned to be founded, but also its purpose is to expose and direct the various functions inside. This action is a deliberate effort using curves as skillful openings and recurves to emphasize harmony with the surroundings. The functions contained in the building are also dictated by the terrain. On the eastern side the building opens up to the main ski slope, on the northern side of the slope the building visually connects to the trail and thus creates a delicate spatial accent, hiding its volume.
The design of a sports mountain guesthouse in the Żywiec Beskids
© Jakub Jopek
Jakub JOPEK
Illustrations © Author
