Hotel Rivoli, a modest business hotel on a 1500 sqm hook-shaped plot in East Jakarta’s bustling Kramat Raya, tests two hypotheses: Can a hotel on a narrow urban site enhance guest comfort through bioclimatic design? How can a split-mass brick and glass facade create a sustainable, inviting space? Designed on an existing one-story column grid, it injects vitality into a crowded street with a linear, light-filled layout.
The facade, a rhythmic blend of red brick and glass, faces south (16m) and west (97m), using introverted brick walls to shield heat and transparent glass to draw light, crafted by local artisans for durability and warmth. Four lightwell corridors (1m x 4.5m), topped with transparent roofs, pierce the four-story structure, channeling daylight to the first floor and creating luminous bridges to guest rooms. A central open lobby, acting as a courtyard-like space, welcomes guests with natural light and air. The landscape, with minimal native plants along the street edge, softens the urban density, cooling the microclimate.
With 60 rooms, a restaurant, and meeting spaces, Hotel Rivoli uses passive cooling and local materials to ensure comfort and efficiency. Completed in 2018, it proves a constrained site can foster hospitality through light, craft, and climatic harmony.
Photography by Kafin Noeman, Eric Dinardi
April 9, 2025
Realrich Architecture Workshop
Realrich Sjarief
