Punta del Este, Uruguay

Ian Guevara and Natalia Ottonello have completed the new 5.900 m2 Don Majestic Hotel in Punta del Este, Uruguay with its unique architectural shape, innovative design, an icon.

Looking for that moment when architecture transcends itself, trying to express poetic in architecture. Light and transparency, as a pure and curved shape, are the main aspects of the project. 

Don Majestic Hotel has recently been awarded a 2022 International Architecture Awards Honorable Mention by The Chicago Athenaeum: Museum of Architecture and Design and The European Centre for Architecture Art Design and Urban Studies.

The main objective and challenge were to design with poetic, with courage, and with passion, for the sculptural shape of a Punta del Este architectural icon.

Singularity and uniqueness are the main concepts that have guided the creation of the hotel. 

For the design, and for the process of transforming the abstract concepts into the real, the Architects got inspired by nature, by the curves of nature. 

The studio designed a sculptural curved piece of architecture, conceived with the same concepts and the same spirit, from the macro to the micro-scale, from the exterior design to the interior design. 

Singularity and uniqueness are the main concepts that have guided the creation of the Hotel. 

For the design, and for the process of transforming the abstract concepts into the real, the Architects got inspired by nature, by the curves of nature. 

The studio designed a sculptural curved piece of architecture, conceived with the same concepts and the same spirit, from the macro to the micro-scale, from the exterior design to the interior design. 

To materialize the sculptural shape of the building, with floor plans that vary in size, a very exceptional engineering structure was designed, with a unique central pillar in the core of the building. 

This enabled to benefit from uninterrupted incredible views. 

An essential aspect of the hotel is the skin of the building. As the essence of the sculptural shape is the curve, curved glasses were installed in the whole building. 

The new hotel has got 52 rooms: – 48 Standard rooms (from 32 to 47 m2) – 4 Luxury Suites (81 m2) plus other amenities, such as outdoor and indoor heated swimming pool.

The main requirement for the design of the hotel had been to try to build an innovative architecture, with a singular and unique shape. The client wanted to try to build a jewel. 

Therefore, the main objective and the main challenge was to create, to design, to conceive, and then to develop an innovative design, an Architectural jewel, an icon. 

The mission was, not only to design but also to create an emotion in people, to surprise, to seduce, with both exterior and interior design.

Project: Don Majestic Hotel
Architects: Guevara Ottonello Architects
Lead Architects: Ian Guevara and Natalia Ottonello
General Contractor: Norte Construcciones
Client: Don Majestic Hotel
Photographers: Nacho Correa Belino