LIBYA MSALATA MEDICAL CITY, THERMAL HOTEL PROJECT

The climate and rugged terrain of this site at the threshold of the Sahara Desert played a crucial role in determining the placement and form of a 250‑room spa hotel near Msallata, Libya, outside Tripoli. It was determined to situate the building on a promontory where three steep valleys converge. Uniquely, the hotel is entered from the top floor, and its low profile allows other buildings planned for the site to have broad views down the valley, which is dotted with olive and almond trees.

The hotel’s common areas such as the lobby, dining and entertainment venues, spa, terraces, and various pools are arranged vertically at the center of this peninsula, while multistory guestroom wings on either side follow the natural contours of the land. The central arrangement allows for convenient access to the shared spaces where guests congregate, relax, and socialize. The tiered effect of the wings creates natural terraces and ensures views of the surrounding landscape from all the hotel’s rooms while still maintaining privacy.

In addition to shading devices and solar panels, the form of the building itself is designed to address the extremes of the region’s arid climate. Taking advantage of the valley’s breezes, a Venturi effect at the lobby level draws air over the hotel’s many pools and circulates it throughout the common areas.

Meanwhile, the guestroom wings, which face south, are embedded into the existing slope to stabilize their temperature. The deep, planted, overhanging terraces on each floor protect the rooms on the floor below from direct sunlight and create a cooler microclimate along the building’s façade.

The articulation of the building draws on the region’s vernacular architecture but does not attempt to mimic it. The serpentine form of the structure recalls the rounded, earthen plaster forms of Libya’s historical cities like Ghadames. These plastic forms are cast with letters from the ancient, partially deciphered Libyco-Berber alphabet, giving them an abstract texture.

In terms of function, the design honors local cultural values of modesty and privacy. There are separate spa facilities for men and women with independent entrances. They have identical amenities, and the changing rooms and the various treatment and relaxation areas are planned with the guests’ senses of security, comfort, and reserve in mind. The spas open to a series of indoor-outdoor pools, and while all of these pools give the impression of being out in the surrounding nature, the women’s pools are completely shielded from the view of terraces above. Likewise, dining and entertainment venues are separated into men’s and family areas, as is the local custom even in domestic space.

The hotel is part of a planned 400.000 m² complex that includes a 400‑room regional hospital and rehabilitation center, a medical university, a boarding school for autistic children and youth, and residential areas for doctors and staff. The facilities will serve a catchment area of more than 4 million people within a two-hour drive — more than half of Libya’s population.