Varna, Bulgaria

Nestled in a forest full of oaks and acers, Umani Hotel by Svetoslav Stanislavov and his design team at Starh blends harmoniously within its natural surroundings and serves as a natural barrier inside Golden Sands Nature Park near the city of Varna, Bulgaria, looking directly towards the Black Sea.

The Umani Hotel has recently been awarded a 2023 International Architecture Award by The Chicago Athenaeum: Museum of Architecture and Design and The European Centre for Architecture Art Design and Urban Studies.

Initially, the program of the client was for an apartment building.

However, later on in the process, the architect decided to turn it into a hotel building, as well as personally manage it, and took that as his mission.

The plot of land is significantly sloped from west to east, surrounded by a pristine landscape with valuable tree species and natural rock formations.

The concept of the project is to create a contextual building that fits easily into the natural environment, that looks light, airy, and unobtrusive.

This is a building that works well together with all elements of the surroundings and landscape.

The simplistic design is entirely subordinated to the natural features of the property – a strictly orthogonal rectangular prism that fits between the tall trees and the massive rocks, and lands in between without disturbing the densely landscaped screen.

In order to achieve a greater mimicry, the design of the façades is entirely completed in vertical Finnish Тhermоwood battens, that encircles the entire structure.

Dynamics is introduced by taking away from the volume in several places where loggias are formed, while they are emphasized by the clean line of the glass.

The clear floor plans and maximally large windows of the hotel rooms allow them to change their view in height – from the richness of the vegetation to the endless expanse of the sea horizon, which gradually appears.

Umani Hotel has a humane way of influence – both because of its delicate intervention and because of the peaceful experience it brings.

Project: Umani Hotel
Architects: STARH
Lead Designer: Svetoslav Stanislavov
Design Team: Dimitar Katsarov, Hristo Dushev, Iva Kostova, Petar Nikolov, Borislav Stanchev, Ivan Kovachev, Debora Dimitrova, Sanya Kovacheva, Georgi Pasev, Vladimir Kavaev, Svetlana Yaneva, and Alexandra Kechovska
General Contractor: VSK
Client: Eleya Trade Ltd.
Photographers: Dian Stanchev