Moroccan Hotel Development

The Brief	Approach	Challenges Faced	Photos: Before and After	Detailed Specs

Twilight view of the courtyard of the second "riad" at the development

The Brief

To create a luxury hotel out of two 17th century townhouses in the historic centre of Marrakech, Morocco in a way that preserves the architectural and historic traditions of the local culture, as well as updating it with the comfort and security required by the discerning hotel guest.

Approach

We began by determining the overall end-design objective, which included the required specs (room numbers, facilities, etc) and quality level. This included a detailed analysis of the local market, competitive site visits, and extensive planning. We interviewed a series of local architects before choosing one.

We worked very closely with the architect to realise the overall design objectives. The Moroccan construction market is made up of a variety of highly specialised trades, operating like the guild system, which have existed since the Middle Ages. This presented project management challenges, but also offered the opportunity to seek out the best woodworkers, plasterers, plaster-carvers, "zouac-painters" (a highly stylized and very detailed type of painting, "tadelakt-makers" (a specialised form of coloured, polished plaster, with a look and feel similar to marble), as well as the more modern and necessary structural engineers, electricians, and plumbers.

The project employed an average of 30 people at any one time, and took 18 months to complete in each of two phases.

Challenges

We faced several design, construction, and project management challenges along the way. Some particularly salient ones included:

a byzantine local planning system, requiring permits and inspections from a great number of municipal departments

the need to link the two buildings together by a bridge over a road, and to do so in compliance with UNESCO World Heritage site status--which required us to use entirely traditional construction techniques

the need to reinforce what is essentially a compacted mud construction with structural steel to ensure the integrity of the building, and an ability to support bathtubs in the many bathrooms, as well as an extensive roof garden

Before and After Shots

While no means exhaustive, these images should give a sense of the depth of renovation involved...you can visit the hotel's own website, which shows many more images by clicking through the following link: Dar Les Cigognes, Boutique Hotel Marrakech.