Sibling team Davit and Mary Jilavyan have imagined a boutique hotel with stone-shaped guest rooms partially inspired by their housing complex in Moscow. The project, known as Dolmen Shelter, is a fictional rendering that the duo hopes to someday see brought to fruition by their friends in the building industry.

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A rounded, stone shaped building with a small window and doorway. Red flowers dot the landscape in front, and trees make up the background.

The hotel measures from 35 square meters to 55 square meters on 100-120 square meters of site area. According to Davit and Mary, they came up with the idea while walking near their house and seeing a landscape design made up of three stones. The structures are reminiscent of single-chamber megalithic tombs known as dolmens, which date from the early Neolithic age.

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Three rounded, stone shaped buildings with a small window and doorway. Red flowers dot the landscape in front, and trees make up the background.

The project imagines a mini-hotel with at least three small stone-shaped guest suites, a design that the team chose instead of buildings made from different blocks to keep the project unique. The idea is to move away from modern house designs that prioritize contemporary shapes and glass, and instead focus on more organic shapes. Each stone-shaped suite is made of reinforced concrete and faced with plaster to imitate natural stone. A few very small windows help mimic a cave’s atmosphere.

The interior of the hotel room, with simple, cave-like furnishings.

Red lighting evokes the same mystery that characterizes ancient dolmens; archaeologists still debate the reasons behind their presence and methods of construction. The team says this choice intentionally alludes to the mesmerizing estrangement and overall characteristics that attract people to these ominous stone structures. 

The interior of the hotel room, with simple, cave-like furnishings and a staircase leading to the second floor.

Simple, minimalist furniture provides enough to live comfortably without excess, while a rectangular black volume with an entrance space is built into each suite to indicate the doorway. Overall, the hotel renderings remind one of the ancestral caves of early humans, a feature the Jilavyans believe will distract guests from their busy lifestyles and allow them to concentrate on themselves and their inner voices. 

+ Dolmen Shelter

Via Dezeen

Images via Davit and Mary Jilavyan