6 the World Of Hospitality
Pella Beach – a contemporary symbiosis of
landscape, architecture and interior design
Scape Design has redesigned the landscape
of Pella Beach to harmonise with the updated
building facades and refreshed interiors and
to open it up to what is one of Halkidiki’s
longest and most beautiful beaches. Now,
generously proportioned modern pools with
crisp edges are at one with the buildings and
tree-lined avenues take the eye to sea and
horizon, frame the green Sukabumi stone-
lined pools and create an allusion of distance.
The previously outdated arrival has been
transformed. A new walled courtyard offers
immediate separation from the roadway
Scape Design Associates
outside, drawing guests into another world
and, via shaded pathways, to the entrance
lobby. The plan is simple and axial. One axis
draws guests through the courtyard into the
lobby and then beyond into the gardens and
beachside restaurant. The other axis is central
to the building and powerfully anchors the
landscape with the architecture.
The two existing pools were replaced to
match and reflect the simple, modern and
clean spaces of the renovated interiors. The
new restaurant pavilion and lobby bar terrace
structures take inspiration from architectural
forms, in particular the colonnades that flank
the building. In order to ensure a view of both
the garden and the sky to every guest, the
restaurant has been designed as a garden
courtyard surrounded by an open-air double
colonnaded space. The roof slopes inwards
so that during a rainstorm the internal space
amplifies the effect and creates a dramatic
rain garden spectacle.
The design team opted for a simple palette
of materials. Large porcelain tiles, distinctive
for their modernity and uniform textures,
highlight the main axes of Pella Beach. In
addition to the existing olive trees, new olive
trees were planted and Washingtonia Palms
were introduced to lend drama to the new
avenues.