Black Sea Hotel and residences

A Soviet-era tower block has been demolished to make way for a 23-storey five-star hotel and 14-storey apartment building linked by a two-storey podium in the historic port city of Batumi on the Black Sea coast of Georgia. We are providing a one-stop design and project management service for this fast-track development. Architect RTKL is acting as a sub-consultant to Ramboll.

The design is contemporary but influenced by traditional Georgia. Features include an old-town style boulevard of two-storey shops and restaurants that runs along the seafront and through the new complex. Lawns and gardens cover the top of the podium to create an energy efficient green roof. Solar panels have also been installed on the podium and on the roof.

A two storey basement for car parking, plant and back-of-house facilities sits below the development. Its construction required a complex de-watering system, as the water table at the site is high at 1.5m below ground level.

The site is located in an earthquake zone, so the buildings' concrete frames have been designed to withstand seismic forces and torsional loads. Seismic movement joints have been used in the podium to isolate it from the tower blocks. The piled raft foundation is designed to accommodate potential liquefaction of the ground.