ALAJ12

ALAJ12 is a small hotel embedded in a steep hillside of oak trees and scrub. The buildings follow the contour lines of the terrain in a series of long terraces, as if they were an extension of the dry stone walls that have shaped the agricultural landscape for centuries. Green roofs cover each level, so that from above the hotel almost disappears into the slope.

The rooms open towards the valley through deep, shaded loggias, each with its own terrace, while the stone base walls anchor the complex to the ground. Paths, stairs and small courtyards connect the levels and lead down to a pool set into the terraces. At sunset the building reveals itself only through the warm light of its openings. ALAJ12 shows how tourism can grow with the landscape rather than against it, through topography, local materials and a sensitive, low-rise approach.