11. Žilvinas Hotel Palanga

About

Built in 1969 under the design of Algimantas Lėckas, Žilvinas Hotel remains one of the most impressive examples of modernism in the history of Palanga’s holiday resort architecture to this day. Its architectural expression and structural solutions have made it into an object of the highest professional esteem.

Hotel Žilvinas is in the central part of Palanga. The quarter is generously equipped with greenery. The complex consists of the main building (located in the centre of the plot) and a commercial building. Together these buildings create a sculptural space with a fountain in the centre. In 1970, new buildings were added to the complex in the north-eastern part of the plot, named “Žilvinėlis“, the holiday home.

The main building of the complex is a three-storey holiday home. The two-storey volume was raised, leaving only the staircase lobbies on its ground floor. The aim was to leave the courtyard as spacious as possible and to dedicate as much of the plot to public use. The buildings are delicately integrated into the existing greenery. The building has 21 apartments (10 two-room, 8 three-room and 3 four-room apartments).

The two-storey commercial building contained a canteen, a sauna, a swimming pool, a billiard room, a cinema, and the administrative offices.

The buildings are unique not only because of their original volumetric solutions but also because of the materials used to finish the facades – the concrete exterior, which imitates the structure of wooden planks, remains aesthetically attractive and popular to this day.

The hotel was given a new lease of life a few years ago when the compound was taken over by new owners, and the restoration of interior spaces preserved many of the original fragments of the building.