Ricardo Legoretta's Camino Real Ixtapa (currently Las Brisas Hotel) Ixtapa, Mexico

Category: Hotels
Region: Mexico
Year: 1981
Location: IXTAPA ZIHUATANEJO, GUERRERO, MEXICO
FT2 Construction: 495,139 sq ft
FT2 Ground: 0 sq ft
Involved Areas: Architecture, Interior Design, Landscape Architecture

Collaborators:
ARQUITECTURA: LEGORRETA® 
Ricardo Legorreta
Noé Castro
Carlos Vargas Sr.
Gerardo Alonso
DISEÑO DE INTERIORES: LEGORRETA®

Consultants:

MECHANICAL AND STRUCTURAL DESIGN: DIRAC, S.A. DE C.V.
ELECTRICAL DESIGN: BIPSA
CONTRACTOR: GUTSA, ECSA, Bolaños, Los Remedios

Photographer:

Lourdes Legorreta
Armando Salas Portugal
​© Colección Legorreta


The client wanted a hotel like Las Brisas in Acapulco, which was designed by a sailor not an architect, but it was not financially feasible. Alternatively, I said, lets have the way of life of Las Brisas in Ixtapa. - Ricardo Legorreta The project required the typical spaces of a hotel including the appropriate number of rooms, air conditioning, meeting rooms and conference spaces. The owner proposed a site and that a traditional hotel tower should be built on it. Legorreta suggested an alternative site, the best site in Ixtapa, but warned the owner that he would have to build the best hotel in the country on it and acquire ownership of the entire beach. The major challenges for the project were the hilly terrain of the site, the owners desire for a traditional tower and the integration of the facility with the landscape. The operating company called for a tower, and the first scheme proposed by Legorreta respected its wishes. However, the buildings size, the amount of air conditioning needed and other factors made the scheme unfeasible. The owner began to have doubts about proceeding with the project, so Legorreta asked to develop an alternative scheme. Instead of air conditioning the entire hotel, only guest rooms would be mechanically cooled and even in those areas, there would be the option of a simple ceiling fan. The living area for each room would be placed on the outside, on a terrace with seating and dining areas, plants and a view to the Pacific Ocean; a relaxed living space naturally cooled. Similarly, air conditioning was eliminated in all the public spaces except rest rooms and meeting rooms, relying on cross ventilation instead. These changes reduced costs by a 20/25%. Again, breaking with tradition, the new design was not a tower: it would not be a form on the mountain; it would be the mountain, with rooms terraced down the slope. It would not fight the natural landscape but blend with the topography. The terraced hotels lower profile required planning an efficient way of operation. Legorreta worked very closely with the client to develop cost saving ideas, while developing new ways for accommodating the needs and desires of hotel guests. Instead of closet doors, nets were designed for closet openings. Much of the furniture was built in, so it could be inexpensive. Most importantly, the team achieved a quality of life at the hotel that exceeded expectations and created a special and intimate environment for guests. The focal point of each room is the terrace with views to the beach and down to the mountainside. Guests are immediately drawn outward to the step-down pools where relaxation and playful environment are provided.