The Pine Gardens
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Overview
“The Pine Gardens at Jurmala”, a place that combines the comfort and convenience of a hotel with the individuality of luxury housing in a unique landscape setting.
Details
Industry
Architecture
Date Completed
2022
Team
Dagnija Smilga, Beatrise Šteina
Collaboration
Hosoya Schaefer Architects AG
Location
Jūrmala, Latvia
Commission
Invited competition
Client
EM investments
The Pine Gardens at Jūrmala reimagines the existing Rīgas Līcis hotel and sanatorium site as a contemporary resort neighbourhood embedded within the Baltic coastal landscape. The proposal combines a five-star hotel with hotel-adjacent apartments and exclusive residences, bringing together the comfort of hospitality with the privacy and individuality of residential living.
The masterplan is shaped around the existing pine forest and protected trees, positioning new buildings carefully within the landscape rather than treating the site as a cleared development plot. The existing hotel tower is retained and refurbished, while new residential and hotel volumes form a family of buildings integrated through gardens, courtyards, shared amenities and pedestrian spaces. The architecture combines a restrained Nordic character with Swiss-quality hospitality design.
The hotel and hotel-adjacent residences are planned as an integrated ensemble, combining the refurbished existing hotel with new accommodation and residential volumes around shared courtyards. Public and guest-oriented functions are concentrated at ground level, creating an active arrival sequence and a clear relationship with the courtyards. The programme includes the main lobby, restaurants and bars, fitness and family amenities, conference and co-working spaces, while back-of-house, servicing, staff and operational functions are organised separately to support efficient hotel operation. The second level brings together the main wellness and event programme, including the indoor pool, spa, ballroom, commons and meeting spaces, creating a shared amenity layer between the hotel and adjacent residences. Above, the scheme combines hotel rooms and suites with hotel-adjacent apartments in distinct vertical volumes, allowing the residential component to maintain its own identity while remaining closely connected to the services and amenities of the hotel.
Natural materials and warm timber façades reinforce the relationship between architecture and landscape, while elements of the existing building—including its natural stone and marble façade material—are reused as part of its transformation.
The Pinecone Towers form the more private residential part of the development. Four freestanding towers are positioned within the pine landscape as individual objects rather than a continuous urban block, allowing the existing greenery to flow between the buildings and giving each residence a strong relationship with the surrounding forest. Their compact, rounded floorplates and continuous balconies create a softer architectural language that distinguishes the residences from the more rectilinear hotel complex.
The apartment layouts are organised to maximise orientation, daylight and sea views. Each typical tower floor contains only four apartments: two are oriented directly towards the Baltic Sea, while the south-facing apartments maintain sea views from their balconies.
The towers are supported by their own residential amenity programme, including lobbies, fitness and wellness spaces, indoor and outdoor pools, sauna, restaurant and bar, co-working and meeting areas. Parking and technical functions are integrated below the landscape, allowing the ground level to remain predominantly green and pedestrian-oriented.
The façade combines concrete balcony slabs with timber panels, slender steel elements and light railings. Integrated planted screens introduce greenery directly into the façade while providing additional privacy between neighbouring balconies. Together, these elements give the Pinecone Towers a light, layered character that reflects the atmosphere of living among Jūrmala’s pines.
Rather than creating an isolated resort, the proposal aims to make the qualities of Jūrmala—pine forest, sea, light and outdoor living—part of everyday life.
