To a different tourist. Loop inn Hostel Cartagena by Martin Lejarraga

Description of project by Martín Lejarraga

The hostel is born with the vocation of being an alternative activity centre in the city of Cartagena. The implementation of the building takes into account the many conditions of the environment, by the neighbourhood in which it is located (Barrio Universitario, at the foot of the Cerro de Despeñaperros); geographical, topographical, historical and social, responding to the latent need of the port city to attract a different tourist profile.

The building is developed in different layers, where each level is qualified in a differentiated way, towards the interior as well as the exterior, and that manifests the vibrant energy that this hostel contagious and detaches. 

Outside, these nuances are materialised through the patterns designed by Ángel Charris, which mention the intrinsic values of the city and its surroundings: the sea, the walls, the wind, and the sun, and which propose the connection of the piece with the urban landscape that surrounds it.

The first layer of the equipment compensates for the topographical differences of the area, serving as the base for the rest of the building. This two-level plinth articulates the common spaces of the project: reception, kitchen, and meeting spaces; with shared rooms of two heights, where visitors can experience new sensations and experiences.

The entrance to this level, and therefore to the Loop INN, is through a double-height space flooded by a canvas with romantic patterns, which provides a unitary, homogeneous and identifiable appearance. This general vision is only chromatically interrupted by a connection between floors and a slide, which directly connects the mezzanine-access-basement, where the rest of the meeting places and the relationship of the hotel equipment are located.

The sequence of layers continues in height, with a programme of shared rooms of different capacities and services, derived from their spatial configuration, on the 3 upper levels. 

The intention of the whole to relate to the city and its flows are also reflected in the room cells that push the façade outwards in the form of balconies. These projections sequence the façade and orientate by means of a circular lattice the glances of the guests towards the streets, the port and the hills of Cartagena.

In the last layer, the rooms leave space for a wide and soft terrace that is bathed by the numerous hours of sunshine of the city, complementing the tourist offer of the building.