ESTONIA HOTEL & SPA

A modern hotel and spa with 106 rooms in the famous former Pärnu sanatorium

Location: Pärnu, Estonia
Client: Nordecon AS
Commission: 2013
Completed: 2015
Size: 13,000 m2
Original architect of the White building: Ants Raid
Original architects of the Green building: Edda ja Jüri Soolep

The design of the spa hotel, which is located by Pärnu Beach Park, focuses on creating a modern Estonian leisure centre to highlight its excellent location, distinctive features and values. The two buildings – the Green building and the White building – are joined by a glass gallery that runs above the street. All spa and conference services are located in one building, and accommodation services in the other. A conference area was added to the ground floor and a pool complex on the second floor of the White building. The old U-shaped building houses saunas, changing rooms, a beauty centre and the necessary utility rooms. The design solution for the Green building includes a restaurant and 106 rooms.

The interior architectural solution conveys the key ideas and symbols associated with Estonia, and especially with Pärnu in a modern form. Print patterns, embossing and textured surfaces are used to establish the atmosphere. The Estonian natural environment, folk traditions, handicrafts, music and poetry have all been sources of inspiration. Finishings primarily make use of natural materials.

The interior of the conference hall is decorated with ceiling lamps in the shape of flocks of birds and the carpet print depicts spring and autumn migratory birds, which symbolically resemble ancient Estonian meetings called kärajad. The design of the spa area reveals references to the sea, summer beaches and related motifs – a shoal of fish, sun glistening on the water, seashells, the muted colours of beach sand and driftwood. The corridor leading to the spa reception is covered with a luminous ceiling inspired by a shoal of sprats and the carpet below is printed with the shadows of the fish swimming above. The shape of the reception desk is inspired by a shell. The design of the sauna area has taken rolling crop fields as a visual starting point, the second floor pool area takes its inspiration from the lakes covered in water-lilies, raindrops on the surface of a glassy lake and rushes swaying in the wind.

The concept of the lobby bar and restaurant area is based on a very important Estonian symbol – the song festival. The floor design of the room uses a belt pattern motif, where the pattern becomes more colourful and visible moving from the lobby toward the restaurant bar, which is an abstract image of the folk heading to the festivities. Letters to Friedrich Reinhard Kreutzwald from Lydia Koidula (important actors in Estonian’s cultural awakening) have been printed on the curtains.