Khazar-saray

A CONTEMPORARY CARAVANSERAI IN BAKU - CULTURAL RESORT

Khazar University, Azerbaijan is the first private university that emerged in the territory of the former Soviet Union. Khazar-saray is the new facility complex for this University. The facility complex consists of guest rooms, lecture hall, café/restaurant, library and spa.

Caravanserai is the built heritage of Azerbaijan. It symbolises the place where people rest, meet, eat, stay and exchange. We are highly inspired by the rich spacious character of this building type.

The site for the facility complex is located on Buzovna beach along the Caspian Sea. To respect these natural surroundings and the existing texture with mainly small buildings, we decided to make a cluster of small units instead of a singular large building. Using the Caravanserai type we clustered the units around a courtyard. The cluster not only generates the desired flexibility in the quantity of units and phasing of the project, it also scales down the building and results in a "village" feel.

Standardised building units are constructed with a combination of vault shape and the shotcrete technique. This low-key method is chosen to simplify the construction of the new facility complex.

Project@Maxwan