Investors negotiate with Pritzker prize-winner David Chipperfield to lead the luxury hotel project in Malaga port

A surprising turn of the wheel in the design of the Torre del Puerto, the luxury hotel planned for the esplanade on Malaga city's Levante dock. The investment group, made up of Qatari investment fund Al Alfia and the Spanish hotel group Hoteles Hesperia, has turned to a world-famous figure to lead the project with a view to creating the most iconic design possible for this unique space, something that the developers are most anxious to achieve.

Although several names of international architects are being considered and negotiations are still open, the one who is currently the most likely to take on the commission is David Chipperfield. This is the architect who won the Pritzker Prize in 2023 - a coveted award in the realm of architecture akin to a Nobel prize. SUR has learned from port and business sources that this architect renowned for urban planning has already made some sketches of the design that, in his opinion, would best fit the dockside location.

The sources consulted point out that the promoters are looking for an international firm with the aim of creating what is known as a "destination hotel", where high-end clients want to go for the concept of the hotel itself, not just for its city location. The closest example of what they are going for, due to its similar location by the sea, would be the iconic W hotel (also known as Vela) in Barcelona, which is the work of Ricardo Bofill.

Nevertheless, although this is one of the most popular international studios, there are other options. Still, the fact is that being able to count on a firm of this calibre will mean an outlay of several million euros for the developers, just in terms of the architecture alone.

Very soon Al Alfia and Hesperia intend to clear up the two big unknowns surrounding this initiative at a public event in Malaga: naming the hotel company that will head up this luxury hotel and also the studio responsible for its design.

There were already some clues pointing in this direction towards a change. At the end of September, when SUR uncovered the uncertainty that had arisen about the progress with all the procedures for finalising the project and then came the request for an extension to the deadline, a spokesperson for the private owners explained that "a first class professional team" had been formed, led by a team of architects "of great international prestige", to undertake the winning proposal from the open competition, "within the parameters set by the Special Plan" in terms of height, buildability and performance. At the time, they referred only to the outcome of the extension procedure without revealing any name.

What is clear is that, after this drastic change of direction, the image of the Torre del Puerto building as created by Estudio Seguí, which has been shown so many times in the media to date, will change. For the time being the possibility is already being considered that the height of the building will be raised again with respect to the last known proposal, up to 140 metres is likely given that the maximum buildable height approved in the Plan Especial by Malaga council's planning department allows for up to 150 metres.