La Purificadora Hotel, Mexico

Once a water-purification plant in the 19th century, today it is a stunning 32,290-square-foot Hotel Boutique in Peubla, Mexico. The Mexican hotelier Carlos Couturier's innovative project, La Purificadora was designed by Mexico's famous architect Ricardo Legoretta and his son, Victor, who took up the challenge and transformed this old ice factory and water-purifying plant into a stunning piece of luxury.

Ricardo Legorreta, though famous for his use of bold and bright colors and designs decided to shun all that and stick to minimalist colors for La Purificadora. With three more floors added to the original building, the architect duo stuck to black and white while designing the interiors of the hotel. Blending the old architecture with new, the stone and plaster façades are also incorporated in the interior designs. The primary materials used were the stone and wood from the original building, onyx, and specially fabricated glazed tiles were used for the floors and interestingly, materials such as bottles and glass fragments that were found in the original building have also been incorporated in the design.

La Purificadora boasts of an opento- the-sky lobby area. Legorreta used the local volcanic rock as traditional raw material and combined it with the airy glass gallery. A sweeping staircase opens to a spectacular view of the next-door church. The hotel's interiors are a mixture of glass, dark stone and heavy wood features, and the color purple is boldly used in an otherwise minimalist background to give it a livelier look.

The lobby of the hotel and the rooms are arranged in L-shape around the lobby. The usual coffee tables made way for the more chic, open, stone fireplaces having open fireboxes for the guests and also a grand staircase adds much drama to the interiors. Glass open stairs are used from the second floor of the hotel to the third level and finally terminate into a sheltered roof terrace, presenting a stunning view of the city. All the 26 guest rooms have been inspired by colonial architecture and have been given a contemporary flavor. Another interesting feature of this hotel is its rooftop terrace's 30-meter glass-sided swimming pool, built like an aquarium; glass closets in guest rooms, and the glass balconies that are a regular design feature in this entire hotel building. The ground level finds an extensive use of timber and wood that was recycled from the original site of the purification plant.

This hotel can be dubbed as a 'recycled' master piece for its transformation from a purifying plant to a luxury hotel, fusing traditional architecture with contemporary designs and this innovativeness won the architect duo, Legorreta and his son, the World Architecture Festival Awards 2008 in the holiday category. The green hotel is a landmark in Mexico and also a source of inspiration for many who want to recycle and get the most of it.

• http://www.aia.org/SiteObjects/files/Hotel%20Boutique%20La%20Purificadora.pdf
• http://archrecord.construction.com/projects/bts/archives/hotels/07_LaPurificadora/default.asp
• http://www.designhotels.com/hotels/americas/mexico/puebla/la_purificadora_puebla_mexico
• http://www.designhotels.com/hotels/americas/mexico/puebla/la_purificadora_puebla_mexico/la_purificadora_puebla_design_concept
• http://travel.nytimes.com/2007/11/25/travel/25checkin.html