ESO Hotel
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ESO Hotel an the Cerro Paranal is the accommodation for Paranal Observatory in Chile, built in 2003. It is mainly used for the ESO (European Southern Observatory) scientists and engineers who work there on a roster system.
Located at 2,400 meters above sea level on Cerro Paranal, people work in extreme climatic conditions - intense sunlight, dryness, high wind speeds and great fluctuations in temperature. To protect against these, an artificial oasis has been built where people can relax between shifts. The Hotel has 120 rooms and other public spaces: a canteen, lounge, swimming pool, a fitness center and library.
The Hotel complex, comprising four levels, fits snugly into an existing depression in the ground. There are spectacular views out across the desert to the Pacific Ocean from each of the 120 rooms and also from the dining room veranda.
Also visible is a slightly raised dome comprising a steel skeleton that measures 35 meters in diameter.
[edit] See also
[edit] References
- 2003 "Auer+Weber+Architekten Arbeiten 1980-2003 Works", Birkhäuser Publishers, Basel
