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Hotel World The Hilton Garden Inn Gaborone, designed by SVA International, harnesses the presence of an international hotel brand to feed the imagination of a city, offering quality urban space and architecture while supporting a sustainable business model.
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he Hilton Garden Inn Gaborone forms part of a mixed-use development in the New Gaborone Central Business District in Botswana. It’s design, by SVA International, is the result of the dialogue of four different functions in the same block, including a sevenstorey Hilton Garden Inn Hotel, a three-storey commercial building, parking at semi-basement and public space around and in between the building blocks. SVA International opted for a sensible approach to the urban
design aiming for a pedestrianfriendly, visually pleasant, mixed-use development with a gardened central courtyard, which allows circulation to the hotel drop-off and accessible parking at the most convenient level for the city and the tenants. It is a sensitive design that considers not only the scale of the buildings, especially the human scale of its users, but also connectivity with the CBD. The architecture of the buildings features a modern and contemporary approach,
The new Hilton Garden Inn Gaborone forms part of a mixed-use development in the New Gaborone Central Business District in Botswana.
24 LEADINGARCHITECTURE & DESIGN APRIL/MAY 2019
speaking to the environment and landscape directly, by taking into account elements like the culture, climate and surrounding functions resulting in a pedestrian scaled ground floor, large overhangs (to create deep shaded internal spaces) and solar control systems that double up to enhance the architectural aesthetic. While the commercial block has been kept to three storeys, the hotel has been designed as a sevenstorey building to comply with the precepts of the iconic nature of the
Hilton brand and its function as a hotel, including vertical gardens on a contemporary-style building, and the efficient use of floor space. The two buildings have a convenient orientation in terms of reduced sun exposure to the east and west, while still offering quality views to the interior and exterior of the block. This orientation also allows for sunlight gain in winter and protection from west and east low-sun in summer, which in turn translates into a huge powerconsumption saving. Continuity of the shapes of the buildings
