See the entries that caught our editors’ eyes.
Editors’ Pick: The Society Hotel Bingen
Waechter Architecture
By GRAY Editors
The Society Hotel Bingen. Image by Lara Swimmer.
Located amongst the dramatic natural scenery of Washington’s Columbia River Gorge, The Society Hotel Bingen—an adaptive reuse project that brings together a handful of disparate buildings— is a striking example of outside-of-the-box architecture. Attempting to maximize the relationship of the hotel to its natural context, while buffering its impact on its surroundings (the property is located in a residential setting), Portland-based Waechter Architecture adopted the concept of “Edited Panorama” for its design. Using the massing of the new hotel to edit out the middle ground view, the connection between the foreground hotel courtyard and the background grandeur of the Gorge is heightened and experientially linked.
The Society Hotel Bingen. Image by Lara Swimmer.
The GRAY Editors especially liked the unique ring shape that comprises the guest cabins—placing the spa building in the center of the courtyard puts an emphasis on interaction, encouraging guests to connect as they travel across the property. Although each of the cabins is detached on the ground, allowing for peek-a-boo views between units, the roof forms a singular ring that connects the property, both visual and physically, in a hexagonal shape. This perimeter of cabins provides a clear delineation between the neighborhood and hotel while maintaining a residential scale and avoiding a monolithic barrier between communities.
The Society Hotel Bingen. Image by Lara Swimmer.
CATEGORY: Architecture: Commercial
PROJECT: The Society Hotel Bingen
FIRM: Waechter Architecture
DATE OF COMPLETION: May 2019
LOCATION: Bingen, Washington, United States
PHOTOGRAPHED BY: Lara Swimmer
DESIGN TEAM
Ben Waechter
Alexis Kurland
COLLABORATORS
Blossom
Grummel Engineering
Summersett Civil Engineer
Orange Construction
Axiom