Very, very welcoming

The water shim­me­ring myste­riously blue through the glass panels of the rooftop pool is already visible from afar and makes the roof of the Hotel Olympus Palace an unmist­akable land­mark, espe­ci­ally in the evening. Hotel guests and passers-by who have become curious and visit this roof terrace find a new open areas with a large pool land­scape desi­gned by the Barce­lona archi­tec­ture office Matic & Garau.

With sand-beige porce­lain stone­ware tiles of the Valley series of Agrob Buchtal, the restrained, elegant area invites to swim and sunbathe, but also to enjoy deli­cious drinks and events at the bar.

Salou is located in the heart of the Costa Daurada in the province of Tarra­gona and is charac­te­rized by its gently sloping and fine sandy beaches. The rich histo­rical heri­tage with medieval monas­te­ries, inte­res­ting villages and beau­tiful land­scapes as well as the excel­lent Medi­ter­ra­nean cuisine make Salou an ideal holiday desti­na­tion.

The Hotel Olympus Palace is located in the heart of the city’s tourist centre, just 300 metres from the beach.

General renovation of 1600 m² roof terrace

The wexten­sive reno­va­tion of the hotel, which was built in the mid-1970s and has around 250 rooms, was completed in 2018 and focused in parti­cular on the 1600 m² roof area above the 6th floor.

High above the centre of the city not far from Tarra­gona, there was previously only a small water basin, two whirl­pools and a few areas for deck chairs. In their place, the hotel opera­tors wanted to realize a spacious roof terrace with pools, fitness area, bar and plenty of space for sunbathing.

“The aim was to create a spec­ta­cular roof land­scape that would change the image of the hotel and which is unique in Salou,” explains the  archi­tect Dubravka Matic. “The hotel guests should not only enjoy the refres­hing water, the cool wind and the view of the Medi­ter­ra­nean Sea, but also the relaxed lounge atmo­sphere with evening events and concerts around the bar.

Unusual vies from outside and inside

For the archi­tects, the restruc­tu­ring of the roof area was parti­cu­larly chal­len­ging above because the loca­tion and size of the water basins had to be precisely matched to the load-bearing capa­city of the exis­ting struc­ture, the exis­ting pipes and the posi­tion of nume­rous vertical exhaust air shafts.

Right from the begin­ning, the design concept provided for a raised pool area in the centre of the southern part of the roof area with a water surface appro­xi­m­ately 1.5 m above the U‑shaped sun-deck around it.

This solu­tion enabled long glass panels in the pool side walls, which offer swim­ming and diving bathers a view over the city and the sea, but also open up unusual under­water views in the oppo­site direc­tion.

Reminiscent of natural elements of the Costa Daurada

A glance through these glass panels into the inte­rior of the pool reveals another special feature: large-size sand-beige porce­lain stone­ware tiles from the Valley series of Agrob Buchtal, which lend the 85 m² pool an unob­tru­sive noblesse thanks to their earthy relief struc­ture and natural look.

After tests carried out speci­fi­cally for this purpose, the archi­tects chose exactly these tiles because they perfectly harmo­nize with the nearby sandy beaches and rocks of the Costa Daurada, but also because they make the water sparkle parti­cu­larly inten­sely blue in the sun. “The light colour and the large formats should also create a modern appearance and avoid over­hea­ting,” says Matic. The 60 x 120 cm format used for the pool floors and walls not only offers an excep­tional visual impres­sion but also the advan­tage of a low propor­tion of joints, so that the clea­ning effort for the tiles is compa­ra­tively low despite the appro­priate slip resis­tance.

The same applies to the 15 m² whirl­pool, which is also located in the raised pool area directly next to the 20 m long large pool.

The pairs of columns placed in the centre of the pool area were also cladded with large-size porce­lain stone­ware tiles of the series Valley. These pairs carry a kind of white pergola with a similar cross-section, which extends over the entire width of the buil­ding. The columns discreetly hide the venti­la­tion shafts of the hotel bath­rooms, while the pergola serves above all for crea­ting a striking roof struc­ture and accom­mo­da­ting the LED lighting.

Valley tile series ensures design consistency

The cover of the pool edge, the pool surrounds, the outer side walls of the pool and the floors of the sun-decks are made of a wood-plastic compo­site mate­rial.

The archi­tects chose this wood-like mate­rial to create a diffe­ren­tiated tran­si­tion zone between the water basin and the nort­hern part of the roof area with lounge, bar and further deck chair areas.

The latter areas, as well as the clad­ding of the pools, are also provieded throug­hout with Agrob Buchtal’s Valley series, in the form of 2 cm thick, sand-beige patio tiles in the format of 60 x 60 cm with appro­priate slip-resis­tance. The laying was carried out on elevated posts: on the one hand, so that the rain­water — as before the conver­sion – can be coll­ected and drained in the space between the roof cons­truc­tion and the roof. On the other hand, in order to be able to open the floor easily for inspec­tion works.

Elegant roof landscape as a new attraction

The result of the cons­truc­tion works carried out exclu­si­vely during the winter closing time of the hotel is a homo­ge­neous, elegant roof land­scape conveying plea­sant expanse and sove­reign gene­ro­sity.

The opera­tors have thus achieved their goal: the Olympus Palace is the only hotel in Salou with such a diverse micro­cosm on the roof that is on everyone’s lips today. The number of parti­ci­pants in music events has also increased noti­ce­ably. Both hotel guests and external visi­tors enjoy staying there — not only to sip cock­tails at the bar, but also to take insta­gram-suitable under­water photos at the pool.

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