Paranal Residencia — Auer+Weber, Cerro Paranal
Auer+Weber · astronomers’ hotel, 2002 · Paranal Observatory, Atacama Desert, Chile
Photo: European Southern Observatory / Wikimedia Commons (CC BY 2.0), published on Flickr in July 2012 (not a camera date), as published on Street Art Utopia.
The Paranal Residencia is the hotel for astronomers and staff at ESO’s Paranal Observatory in Chile’s Atacama Desert, designed by the German architects Auer+Weber and completed in 2002. In March 2008 a 300-strong crew filmed Quantum of Solace there, where it plays the fictional hotel ‘Perla de Las Dunas’. Source Source Source Checked
Standing Jun 2026: Meteored (published 15 June 2026) describes La Residencia as the temporary home of the scientists and engineers working at Paranal Observatory. A dated photo on Commons was taken in February 2021 (Exif). Source Source Reported
More photos
💡 4 things to know
- Accommodation for staff
ESO describes it as the accommodation for the staff who operate the Very Large Telescope; Wikipedia says it is not a commercial hotel. Source Source Source Checked - Bond’s desert finale
The crew shot mostly exteriors at the end of March 2008; ArchDaily calls it the ‘bad guy lair’ of Quantum of Solace, and Meteored says the film’s final scenes were shot there. Source Source Source Checked - Sunk into the desert
The building sits in a depression in the ground, largely hidden, with a 35-metre dome over its central hall, according to ArchDaily and Wikipedia. Source Source Source Checked - A garden under glass
Under the dome is an enclosed tropical garden and pool, which ESO credits to the award-winning Auer+Weber design. Source Source Source Checked
📍 Where it is
At the base camp of ESO’s Paranal Observatory, below the Very Large Telescope on Cerro Paranal, about 2,400 m up in the Atacama Desert, northern Chile. Source Source Source Checked
Map pin -24.6261, -70.4042, approximate, from this source. The button opens a plain map.
🗓️ Sightings
- 2000
Under construction
- 200211 Feb
Finished facade at dusk
- 200830 Oct
ESO: Bond film shot here in March
- 2012Jul
Garden and pool under the dome
- 202114 Feb
Atrium photographed, in use
- 202615 Jun
Still home to Paranal staff
Green stamps mark dated photographs; amber stamps mark records or reports; red stamps mark loss. Publication dates are not camera dates.
🗞️ In the sources
Blockbuster starring ESO Paranal opens tomorrow (eso0838)
“Paranal welcomed the 300-strong film crew for several days of shooting at the end of March 2008.”
Video: Residencia / Tramnesia
“You may recognized it as the bad guy lair in Quantum of Solace.”
Un oasis tropical en el lugar más seco del mundo: los secretos del espectacular búnker de los astrónomos en Atacama
“En 2008, varias de sus instalaciones fueron utilizadas para grabar las escenas finales de la película Quantum of Solace”
“In 2008, several of its facilities were used to film the final scenes of the film Quantum of Solace”
✅ The facts
- Size
- 12,000 m² gross floor area per the architects; Wikipedia gives 10,000 m² total area. We lean to the architects’ figure, as the designers’ own data Source Source Conflicting
🔗 Related
All sources & image credits
- ESO — Blockbuster starring ESO Paranal opens tomorrow (eso0838), 30 October 2008
- ArchDaily — Video: Residencia / Tramnesia, 13 July 2012
- Auer Weber — ESO Hotel Cerro Paranal (project page)
- Meteored Chile — Un oasis tropical en el lugar más seco del mundo…, 15 June 2026
- Wikipedia — ESO Hotel
- Wikimedia Commons — ESO’s Paranal Residencia in 2012 (European Southern Observatory, CC BY 2.0)
- Wikimedia Commons — ESO’s Paranal Residencia under construction (European Southern Observatory, CC BY 2.0)
- Wikimedia Commons — Aerial view of Paranal Residencia (ESO/S. Goebel, CC BY 4.0)
- Wikimedia Commons — The Paranal Residencia (ESO/C. Malin, CC BY 4.0)
- Wikimedia Commons — ESO-Hotel Süd West Fassade Dämmerung (I. Werz-Rein, CC BY-SA 3.0)
- Wikimedia Commons — Atrium ESO Residencia (Djknusper, CC BY-SA 4.0)
- Hero image: European Southern Observatory / Wikimedia Commons (CC BY 2.0), as published on Street Art Utopia (WAU media #11565).
Last checked: 9 November 2026. How we verify art