Hotel Potí is a boutique hotel designed for Tibau do Sul, Brazil, structured around the integration of architecture, landscape, local cultures and strong regional identity. The site plan adapts to the natural topography and solar orientation, employing vernacular materials, along with traditional construction techniques reinterpreted in a contemporary language. The program includes a reception area, social spaces, pool, spa, two thematic restaurants, and two lodging typologies: Palafita suites and Sertão suites. A linear circulation axis organizes the project, generating transitions between open and introspective spaces.
Hotel Potí is a boutique hotel designed for Tibau do Sul, a coastal town in Rio Grande do Norte, Brazil, known for its iconic Pipa Beach and dramatic natural landscapes. The site selection responds not only to the area’s scenic qualities — steep cliffs, native vegetation, and a warm, humid climate — but also to its socioeconomic context, where tourism is both a driver of the local economy and a source of tension due to cultural erosion caused by generic development models.
The project offers a critical response to the standardization of hotel architecture, which often replicates globalized aesthetics while ignoring local culture and place. Rooted in the principles of dialogical architecture, the design seeks to engage with its physical, climatic, and cultural context by integrating local construction practices, regional materials, and spatial strategies suited to the site’s topography.
A detailed site analysis informed the design approach. The proposal occupies a previously paved, underutilized area, now reimagined as a reforested landscape integrated with the built environment. The volumes are positioned to follow the terrain, minimize cut-and-fill, and enhance natural ventilation and shading. Some buildings are raised on pilotis to ensure soil permeability and allow native flora to grow freely beneath them.
Circulation plays a central role in the spatial organization. Visitors enter through a narrow, shaded access path that opens onto the main lobby. From there, a linear axis organizes the program across multiple levels, creating a sequential experience of spatial compression and openness, transitioning between moments of intimacy and panoramic views.
The program is composed of distinct clusters. The reception, bar, and breakfast lounge form the welcoming and social core of the hotel. Leisure areas include a pool and sundeck oriented toward the landscape. Lodging is divided into two typologies: Palafita suites, elevated and outward-facing, designed for visual connection with the surroundings; and Sertão suites, grounded and arranged around internal patios, offering a more introspective atmosphere. This spatial duality reflects the cultural and environmental contrasts of the Potiguar region — between the coast and the hinterland.
Two restaurants anchor the dining experience: “Brasilidades”, which highlights regional materials and textures such as woodcut engravings and local crafts; and the European Restaurant, which draws on colonial influences with a more restrained and formal language. Additional facilities include Rituais, a space for symbolic and sensory experiences rooted in local culture, and a spa and fitness center, both designed with passive strategies for lighting and thermal comfort.
Material choices are guided by a commitment to vernacular techniques and local identity. The architecture incorporates timber, stone, and ceramics from the region, reinterpreted through a contemporary lens. Artisanal details — such as lacework, bilro-thread pendants, and handcrafted bells — are integrated with subtlety to avoid literalism while preserving authenticity. Horizontality and simplicity define the volumetric composition, favoring permanence over monumentality.
The architectural parti is grounded in the notion that the hotel should act as an extension of the place it inhabits, not as an isolated object. The experience unfolds through spatial sequences shaped by light, shadow, sound, and texture, guiding guests through a progressive reading of the landscape. Each space functions as a transitional moment between the urban and the natural, the individual and the collective memory of Tibau do Sul.
