projects

The JW Marriott Absheron overlooks Freedom Square - a national symbol and location of military parades - and the waterfront boulevard along the Caspian Sea. Part of a mixed-use development designed to become a modern icon for Baku, it will include 16 floors of private residences, serviced apartments, retail and offices as well as the 20-storey hotel with 228 keys.

A planning requirement was that the elevation facing Freedom Square should have an imposing symmetry. This was addressed by segregating the hotel suites and serviced apartments in two balanced oval wings that frame the central hotel component. Due to ground conditions, excavation was restricted to a single parking level, necessitating the integration of plant and back-of-house into the ground floor, disguised by a stepped 20-metre high landscaped podium rising from the square’s park. This concept had the benefit of moving restaurant and bar areas to the first floor, providing uninterrupted views over the square; it also meant moving the main hotel entrance to the opposite side the building and creating a landscaped restaurant and VIP entrance at the podium side.

The brand requirement for a multi-use Great Room was met by integrating both the ground floor reception areas to the rear of the hotel and the first floor level bars and restaurants to the front. Sitting below a 20-storey building, this large hub will be made possible by the introduction of transfer trusses allowing the central columns to be grouped, in the process creating a monumental gravitas that responds to the architecture of Freedom Square.