Our Green Pearls are located all over the world in a variety of places. This diversity is also reflected in the way the hotels are built and the local architecture. We have taken a closer look at hotel buildings and present some architecturally unique Green Pearls.
Benefits for people and the environment
A more sustainable construction uses natural and regional materials, blends harmoniously and gently into the environment, and provides a healthy living environment for people. For the renowned German architect Professor Matthias Loebermann, “smart” architecture is one that serves people while being “simple and sustainable”. So not a house full of technology that tells you via app if the fridge is empty 😉
Existing architecture is greener than new construction
A very important part of sustainable building is the use of existing buildings. It encompasses three core sustainable ideas at once:
- Reuse
- secondary use
- Extended service life
In Bernkastel-Kues on the Mosel River in Germany, for example, Heiner Buckermann transformed a disused zero-star bus hotel into the Lifestyle Resort Zum Kurfürsten in 2001. The conversion into a wellness hotel gave the building a new lease of life and saved many resources compared to a new building.
Modern design instead of ’70s charm
In 1976, Christa Schule Dieckhoff’s father had built a 43-room hotel in Mellrichstadt (then still close to the border with East Germany). Later she bought it together with her husband Matthias and transformed the nine-storey red brick building from the 70s into the bio-certified eco-hotel STURM. The couple brought in renowned architect Professor Matthias Loebermann for the architectural redesign. He not only completely whitened the red brick, but also erected a modern wooden facade – a kind of paravan – in front of the first floor. The lobby and restaurant were also renovated with lots of wood.
Over time, a natural swimming pond and a 30,000-square-meter nature park with an organic snack garden were added. In 2022, the STURM opened twelve new “Garden View Rooms” in an extension. All twelve rooms were built ecologically and climate-neutrally. The dominant material is wood – sustainable solid wood from Switzerland. There is no television in the new rooms. Architect Loebermann was again responsible for the planning. In July 2023, the hotel’s sustainable architecture won the prestigious “best architects award”.
Old hotel buildings in new splendor
New hotel room concept based on the Cradle to Cradle® principle
High above Bad Herrenalb, the SCHWARZWALD PANORAMA can be seen from the train station. The many terraces and balconies offer a magnificent view of the spa town. The building was built in the 1970s as a rehabilitation clinic and has been owned by Stephan Bode since 2013, who has gradually developed it into a sustainable hotel.
Together with the interior designers of Fritz Schlecht | SHL, an entirely new hotel room concept based on the Cradle to Cradle® principle was developed in three years. 24 “Circular Living” rooms were opened in 2023. All construction materials are 100 percent biodegradable or 100 percent recyclable. Next year, the entire 4th floor will be renovated according to these green building principles. The lobby and restaurant will follow in the future.
The architectural project recently won the Sustainable Hospitality Award and is the prestigious project of Fritz Schlecht | SHL.
“We are using almost every possibility to ensure that the work, production and facilities are truly sustainable.” – Hotel enterior designer Fritz Schlecht | SHL
Old and New at Timmendorfer Strand
At Timmendorfer Strand in the SANDnature, the name speaks for itself, because the exterior design, as well as the interior decoration, reflects the atmosphere of the beach and the sea. Many pieces of furniture are made of recycled teak wood. The building was already a hotel in former times.
Renovated and not demolished, true to this sustainable idea, it was extensively and environmentally friendly renovated. In the newly built extension, there are 30 more rooms, some with a sea view.
Architecture as a Cultural Asset
Local Architecture: Historical Buildings in Peru
The historic mansion of Inkaterra La Casona is immediately recognizable. The site where the hotel now stands was a training ground for the Inca army in the 16th century and later hosted Spanish conquistadors. The impressive building was painstakingly restored over a five-year period, and delights guests and us alike with its many great details, such as the wood carvings on the doors, some of which are 400 years old!
“The hotel is a gateway to the city’s past, a living museum with the coziness of an aristocratic Peruvian home.” – Denise Guislain Koechlin (wife of Inkaterra founder José Koechlin von Stein and responsible for the interior design).
Inkaterra Hacienda Urubamba is nestled in the mountains of the Sacred Valley of the Incas. The local architecture is inspired by the Cusco region and incorporates elements of both Inca and colonial history. The stone houses in earth tones are complemented with wooden details, especially in the interiors. Surrounded by rolling green hills, adventure and relaxation await you in equal measure.
The hotel is built on a 500-year-old convent wall
Another hotel with centuries of history is Hotel Klosterbräu in Tyrol, Austria. A monastery stood here in Seefeld in 1516, and its walls are now part of a luxurious and sustainable wellness hotel. The hotel has been family-owned for more than 200 years, with nine family members involved in the current operation. The history of the monastery is still present in the modern facilities. For example, the fitness room is located in the former monks’ choir, and an old monastery bell hangs above the outdoor pool.
In addition to preserving its history and using old stone walls, Hotel Klosterbräu is taking other sustainable building measures. In 2023, 28 new natural rooms have been introduced, 95 percent of which have been made of materials from the immediate region. For example, the wood comes from the hotel’s own forest, and the walls are plastered with clay.
An example of a more sustainable construction: ADLER Spa Resort SICILA
When a new hotel is built, sustainable focused hotels take care to minimize the impact on nature and use building materials from the region. At the ADLER Spa Resort SICILIA, which opened in 2022, the planners made sure that the architecture “does not rise above nature, but becomes part of it”. The resort’s buildings are terraced into the hillside and all have direct views of the sea. Surrounding the resort is a large garden planted with native Mediterranean plants (many of which are the ingredients for the farm-to-table cuisine).
The ADLER Spa Resort SICILIA was built using traditional Italian materials. On the outside, many buildings are clad in tufa stone, which is found in the Etna region of Sicily. Inside, the floors are made of “Cocciopesto” (a natural and typical building material made of brick fragments and air-lime mortar) and the walls are covered with “Terracruda”. The clay walls are not only natural, but also moisture regulating.
“The large glass facades evoke a feeling of freedom and lightness, blurring the boundaries between inside and outside.” – ADLER Spa Resort SICILIA
Local and authentic
For the villas of Gili Lankanfushi in the Maldives, only regional building materials were used. The houses are built with recycled wood or wood from sustainable forestry, the overhanging roofs provide shade. The luxury resort offers you a unique retreat with its 45 overwater villas in the middle of a beautiful lagoon.
Gili Lankanfushi treats seawater for its water supply. This conserves the country’s groundwater reserves, which would otherwise be pumped from wells.
Sustainably conscious hotels play a pioneering role in more eco-friendly hotel architecture.
Hotels are responding to the wishes of eco-conscious travelers (i.e., YOUR wishes) and are reaching out to architects, who are now putting “sustainability in construction” at the top of their agendas. So you can have an indirect say in what the sustainable hotels of the future will look like!
This article is an update to our September 4, 2020, article. | Last Update: July, 28, 2025
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