Architectural Concept of International Business Centre with “Intercontinental” Hotel Complex in Yerevan city
1. Functional organization

The complex consists of:

Hotel with sports-health, entertainment, social-business, recreational and services
Social-business center and
Residential buildings
The hotel complex is located in the four main buildings:

1. "Tower" - hotel suites, restaurant and administrative zones.
2. "Western Lap" – encircling large-scaled areas of sports and spa zones on the western side of the tower (on the axis of Teryan Str.)
3. "East Lap" – large-scaled volume of the ballroom developed on the East side.
4. "Stalactite Wall" – hotel apartments, adjacent to the tower from the east.

2. Urban Solution, Volumetric-Spatial Composition and Architectural Idea

The complex is situated on a high plateau at an altitude of 1090 meters above sea level and dominates the center of Yerevan and the Ararat valley (800-900 m).

Technical specifications of the customer, building area and location of the land plot in the urban structure, turn architectural ensemble into a dominant. The ensemble is visible both from the lower plateau of the city and from the upper amphitheaters, encircling it at the perimeter.

The predominant axial direction of the complex is Teryan str., towards which the vertical volume of the hotel is emphasized.

Silhouette of the tower, on our opinion, is optimal in terms of visual perception both from the main view points from the center of the city and from the view points of the "Monument" slope and Nork-Marash District.

The hotel building in its design is a hexagon with polygonal modules at different heights, which creates an interesting play of light and shadow. Such a compositional method can often be found in the medieval Armenian architecture (see pic. 1).


The tower has a shape of a truncated hexagonal pyramid which ends separate sections, with tapering sail-shaped triangles. From the level of the 25th floor, out of the main hexagon core of the building a "three-pointed star" tends to the sky and completes the composition. A winter garden and an observation deck with views of biblical Mount Ararat, and the center of Yerevan are located on the top floor.

Two wide sides of the hexagon are focused on the picturesque mountains of Ararat and Aragats, which are so dear to all Yerevan citizens and which we see since childhood and cordially show to all guests of our capital.

The building exterior is made of glass, which gives the feeling of lightness and transparency. All the hotel suites have large panoramic windows and French balconies.

Shapes of the tower and hotel apartments are associated with the "stone symphony", a stalactite basalt gorge of Azat River in Garni (see pic. 2).



Pic. 2. "Stone symphony" in gorge of Azat River in Garni

The tower image is slightly stylized as a chess figure of a queen, and is dedicated to the numerous victories and success of Armenian chess players in the 20th and 21st century, which, we believe, is one of the achievements of the Armenian nation.

Social-business and residential buildings are logical continuation of the three-dimensional fractal structure of the ensemble.

On the proposed territory traffic is regulated without a traffick-lights system. Location of the complex has a serious defect: the area is cut off from the city center with routes which always make it uncomfortable for pedestrian access. However, in order to provide the guests with a flexible connection to the center, as well as to connect the northern outskirts of Yerevan with the center, the scheme of an airway route along the gorge leading to Avan district is presented. The route is convenient for tourists; as well as may become quite popular transportation alternative for residents of the northern suburbs, particularly for students, as the stop is organized in the campus (see the scheme of the complex of and the proposed airway route location in the overall structure of the city).

The route connects by air:

Campus
Hotel Complex
Entertainment center "Bellagio"
Zoo
Water Park
Botanical Garden
Tsiranavor Temple in Avan, historical and architectural gem of the world significance (6th century, possibly the first Christian domical church in the world)
Entertainment center "Play City"

3. Structural concept

The structural concept is based on the above mentioned fractal grid and is a combined system of the three main supporting system modules:

1. A hex-triangular combined raster system, active in the height;
2. Folded structures, active on the surface.
3. Supporting structures of cross-beams, active in the cross-section.

4. Technical and economic indicators

Gross land area - 4.4. hectare
Net land area - 7041.0 sq m
Gross building area - 116,118.4 sq m
1. Hotel Complex - 50,018.4 sq m
2. Social - business center - 17000.0 sq m
3. Residential building - 44800.0 sq m
4. Administrative building - 1100.0 sq m
5. Green areas - 4765.0 sq m
6. Water area - 2131.0 sq m
7. Pedestrian areas - 18866.3 sq m
8. Transport routes - 6070.0 sq m

Architects: Telemak ANANYAN, Ph.D., Gohar ISAKHANYAN, Ani SIMONYAN, Argina KOCHKOYAN
Co-workers: Hayk MARTIROSYAN, Ada HAROUTYUNYAN, Tigran PANYAN
3D modeling and visualization: Karen AGHAJANYAN, Ph.D., Argina KOCHKOYAN