This scheme, a design competition entry, is our proposal for a tourist hotel in Roswell, New Mexico. The site is on Main Street, across from the city hall and a park, a little north of where Main Street intersects with Route 380 in the heart of the city.
The main element -a volume nine meters wide and 125 meters long-is placed along Main Street like an immense wall. It stands 40 meters high, its skyline on a level with that of the building north of it, a city landmark. The south portion of this volume curves dramatically to the west, so that guests inside the hotel will readily grasp its configuration and their position in it. The east elevation of the main volume is covered with inorganic-looking aluminum louvers, and its west elevation with frosted glass louvers, giving it an overall monotone expression. This expression we have deliberately interrupted by cutting a large hole into the volume.
In locating the interior functions, the entrance and shops are placed on the ground level, and other public functions, such as the convention center and information center, underground. The public spaces for guests are established on the second and third levels, and the guest room units on the fourth level and up. The top level contains a restaurant-bar and an observation space with views of downtown Roswell.
