The Maldives is most commonly perceived as being a beautiful, pristine and idyllic paradise destination. When we were given an opportunity to design a Maldivian resort hotel, we chose to delight the senses through education, creating awareness, and new paradigms of interacting with the physical environment.

REDEFINING BAREFOOT LUXURY

The desire for Low Impact and High Experiential Return is completely defined by the economics of building and operating costs and this defines the physical design solution. Luxury in our business concept is not conspicuous consumption, but rather the intelligent and focused enjoyment of the beauties of nature without large numbers of people. Isolation and privacy in a remote setting has a higher price.

MASTERPLAN AND LANDSCAPE CONCEPT

The island is surrounded by a large ‘House Reef’ and several distinct ecological zones: Lagoon, beach, coastal and jungle. 77 Villas are divided up into these experiential zones of unique anchoring activities: The Lagoon zone has a water amphitheatre and a signature spa, the Beach zone two signature restaurants, the jungle zone has a nature discovery centre and a pop up cafe, the coastal zone has a dive centre and a signature bar.

The landscape concept is quite simply the conservation of the existing island flora and fauna, and careful replacement of displaced plant material with locally sourced species from neighboring island.

ARCHITECTURE AND INTERIOR DESIGN

The architecture and interior design are treated as extensions of the primary concept driver: Nature itself. The forms and spaces are derived from nature, and the juxtaposition of these forms against the variations of the primitive hut creates the architectural expression of the resort.

CONSTRUCTION TECHNOLOGY

A pre-fabricated timber system was used as the preferred environmentally friendly technology to cause minimum impact during construction, logistics and labor.
In addition, minimum use of concrete and steel, and maximum use of cross-laminated wood technology was expressed in the making of the various forms.

GIVING BACK TO THE MALDIVES

In a strong demonstration of the resorts sensitivity for the environment and Maldivians, maximum local labor was used. Local craftsmen were tapped to create arts and crafts for the interiors and traditional methods of construction, especially in landscape design. In future operations, resort staff will be sourced from the surrounding islands to support those communities as well as ensuring authentic island hospitality.In a strong demonstration of the resorts sensitivity for the environment and Maldivians, maximum local labor was used. Local craftsmen were tapped to create arts and crafts for the interiors and traditional methods of construction, especially in landscape design. In future operations, resort staff will be sourced from the surrounding islands to support those communities as well as ensuring authentic island hospitality.