Themed hotels · Gardaland Resort · from 2015

Gardaland Hotels.

Two hotels, two worlds — the Egypt of the Adventure Hotel and the fantasy of the Magic Hotel. Hieroglyphs, Anubises, magic books, forest tendrils, Wizard and Forest rooms.

Story

Act one

The Egypt
of the Adventure Hotel.

Gardaland Resort in Castelnuovo del Garda — the largest theme park in Italy — opens the Adventure Hotel at the end of 2015: five themed areas, from Egypt to the jungles, each with interior scenography sized for a hotel-experience.

For the Egyptian area, we work on columns, capitals and statues. The hand-carved polystyrene columns display royal cartouches, hieroglyphs (scarabs, falcons with the sun, ankhs, eyes of Horus), full-height figures of offering-bearers. On top, the papyriform capitals with papyrus leaves sculpted in full round, hand-painted in gold, red, green — the colours of Tutankhamun's tomb.

In the common areas we install life-size Anubis statues, finished as white stone, placed next to the polychrome columns. On the ceiling, a blue painted sky recalling the tombs of Luxor.

Act two

The fantasy
of the Magic Hotel.

Three years later comes the Magic Hotel: fantasy theme, school-of-magic atmosphere, differentiated Wizard and Forest rooms for families with children.

For the common areas we sculpt emblem-elements of fantasy: a large open magic book in polystyrene, fan-shaped shells carved in relief, ornaments that will become the "visual vocabulary" of the hotel walls.

The Forest rooms: a porthole painted on the wall that opens onto a cartoon forest with coloured mushrooms, strawberries, flowers, framed by giant sculpted green tendrils that descend from the ceiling like plant tentacles.

The Wizard rooms: balustrades in sculpted faux stone with turned spindles, scrolls rolled up that hang from the walls, atmosphere of the magic tower.

Constant technique for both hotels: hand-carved expanded polystyrene, stiffened in fibreglass, polychrome finish for Egypt and stone-white for the Wizard, applied directly onto the hotel's structural walls.

Construction of the Adventure Hotel lobby at Gardaland: a large papyriform column painted in orange, green and gold with hieroglyphic cartouches at the base and a papyrus-chalice capital on top; on the right a large grey-white Anubis statue in faux stone; a worker on the mobile scaffold is painting the capital, blue ceiling like an Egyptian sky — Adventure Hotel lobby — papyriform column and Anubis

Construction of an Adventure Hotel hall: six tall Egyptian papyriform columns painted in polychrome stripes (pink, orange, gold, blue), papyrus-leaf capitals, two workers with helmets at work between the columns, a large white Anubis statue in the background on the right being installed, the construction floor with pipes and conduits laid out — The hall of columns — six papyri in line

Horus statue (falcon-headed god with human body) finished in bronze colour in the stone niche of the Adventure Hotel: arms crossed on the chest in solemn pose, sculpted pleated Egyptian robes, above the niche a frieze decorated with golden hieroglyphs on black background — The Horus statue in bronze, placed in the niche

Creation Art worker with yellow helmet and white overalls painting an Egyptian column with coloured hieroglyphs: royal cartouches at the top with scarabs and cobras, central band with stylised papyrus decoration, below figures of Egyptian offering-bearers; in the background another column wrapped in protective plastic, hotel windows — Painting hieroglyph by hieroglyph

Forest room of the Magic Hotel: porthole painted on the wall opening onto a cartoon forest scene with blue-red polka-dot mushroom, red strawberry, pink flower, yellow sun in the background; around the porthole giant green tendrils sculpted in full round descend from the ceiling framing the scene — Forest room — tendrils and painted forest

From the workshop

The sculptures
before the colour.

Each element starts from white polystyrene. The polychrome finish comes later: for Egypt the colours of Tutankhamun's tomb, for the Magic the stone-whites of the fantasy.

Egyptian column in freshly carved white polystyrene: at the top a royal cartouche with falcon-Horus and ankh, at the centre the winged sun decoration with side cobras, at the bottom another cartouche with scarab and hieroglyphic symbols; awaiting polychrome painting, with construction scaffolding in the background — Adventure — column before painting

Egyptian decorative element of the Adventure Hotel: detail of an Egyptian sculpture being worked in our workshops — Adventure — sculpting detail

Giant open magic book sculpted in raw white polystyrene: pages half-flipped with the spine at the centre, page-edge section visible from the side like an old book, dimensions about two metres wide; being prepared in our workshops before painting — Magic — the open magic book, raw

Large fan-shaped shell sculpted in raw white polystyrene: semicircular shape with deep radial striations from the centre, placed on the workshop floor awaiting finish — Magic — fan-shaped shell

Wizard room of the Magic Hotel under construction: balustrade in grey faux stone sculpted with turned spindles along the base of the walls, scrolls sculpted hanging from above like medieval trophies, drywall walls still to be plastered — Wizard room — balustrade and scrolls

Close-up detail of a finished papyriform column: papyrus-leaf capital painted with polychrome bands (gold, green, blue, pink), decorative bands with stylised hieroglyphs, at the bottom a cartouche with two figures of Egyptian offering-bearers sculpted and hand-painted — Adventure — papyriform column, detail

Raw papyriform capital, top view

Magic — open book, side view

Another scenographic element of the Magic Hotel being worked: fantasy decorative detail in raw polystyrene in our workshops — Magic — another fantasy element

Behind the scenes

Two hotels,
two grammars.

Interior scenography for themed hotels has a specific constraint: the visitor sleeps inside it. It is not enough that it works at first glance like a ride — it has to hold up for five days of stay under the eyes of guests who pay for the holiday.

The hieroglyphs of Tutankhamun's tomb

The Adventure Hotel columns are painted hieroglyph by hieroglyph: royal cartouches, scarabs, falcons with the sun, ankhs, eyes of Horus, offering figures. The palette is inspired by Tutankhamun's tomb (KV62) — gold, Pompeian red, malachite green, lapis-lazuli blue. No decals: every cartouche is hand-painted by one of our scenographers.

The papyriform capitals

The capitals on top of the columns are papyriform: papyrus leaves sculpted in full round opening in a fan from the centre. It is the most specific architectural detail of New Kingdom Egypt — not generic "ancient" columns, a precise reference to the temples of Karnak and Luxor. Polychrome modulation in yellow, pink, green, blue bands.

The tendrils of the Magic Hotel

For the Forest rooms of the Magic Hotel we sculpt large green tendrils that descend from the ceiling like plant tentacles. They are sculpted in polystyrene, stiffened in fibreglass, and painted in saturated tropical greens. They frame the porthole painted on the wall that opens onto a cartoon forest — coloured mushrooms, strawberries, flowers, sun. The place of magic for the child guest.

2 hotels

Adventure (2015) + Magic (2018) themed for Gardaland Resort

5 areas

themed at the Adventure: from Egypt to the tropical jungles

2 types

of room at the Magic Hotel: Wizard (magic tower) and Forest (forest)

Tech sheet

All production data

Type: Interior scenography for two themed hotels · theme park resort
Location: Gardaland Resort · Castelnuovo del Garda · Verona
Adventure Hotel: Opening 2015 · Egyptian area with polychrome papyriform columns with royal cartouches and hieroglyphs (scarabs, falcons with sun, ankhs) · full-height figures of Egyptian offering-bearers · life-size Anubis statues · ceilings blue like Luxor sky
Magic Hotel — common areas: Opening 2018 · giant open magic book sculpted in polystyrene · fan-shaped shells carved in relief · fantasy ornaments in polystyrene
Magic Hotel — Forest rooms: Giant green tendrils sculpted descending from the ceiling · porthole painted on the wall with cartoon forest (mushrooms, strawberries, flowers)
Magic Hotel — Wizard rooms: Balustrades in sculpted faux stone with turned spindles · scrolls rolled up hanging from the walls · stone-white finish from magic-tower
Techniques: Hand-sculpted expanded polystyrene · fibreglass reinforcement · polychrome finish for Egypt (gold, red, green of Tutankhamun's tomb), stone-white for the Wizard · application directly onto the hotel's structural walls
Our role: Delivery of interior scenography — sculpting, polychrome finish, on-site installation directly inside the hotel construction site
Second life: Scenography still on stage · Adventure Hotel open since 2015, Magic Hotel since 2018 · both continue Gardaland Resort's hospitality programming year-round

Second life

Two hotels open,
thousands of guests.

Gardaland's Adventure Hotel opens in 2015 with five themed areas. The Magic Hotel opens in 2018 with differentiated Wizard and Forest rooms. They are continuously programmed hospitality structures: they host thousands of families per year, especially during the park season from Easter to November.

For us it is one of the longest commissions in the themed hotel sector: it combines the polychrome sculpture of the Roman school (the Egyptian columns, the Anubis statues) with the modern hotel technology — cleanable scenography, certified fireproof, integrated in the building's civil engineering. It is the craft of scenography that meets the craft of building construction.

The themed-hotel techniques applied here are the ones we also use for other themed-hospitality projects, in continuous dialogue with the major Italian parks such as Cinecittà World, Rainbow MagicLand and Luneur Park.