Intercontinental Sanya Resort by WOHA Architects

November 18th, 2012 - Posted in Architecture

The Intercontinental Sanya Resort designed by Singapore based firm WOHA Architects situated in China’s tropical island, Hainan. The design combines masterplanning, landscape, architecture and interiors to set up a series of views and vistas to the sea, framed by coconut trees, reflected in water, and then reframed again with stone, timber and fabric, ensuring every room has a special view. The design of the various public areas varies from urban and formal to casual and beachy, allowing the hotel to address many different markets and customers.

Photos © Patrick Bingham-Hall

Description from WOHA
“The entire resort is designed as a patchwork of inhabited gardens. From the sky gardens and flowering bougainvilleas in the sky block to the huge watergardens in the room blocks, to the walled courtyard gardens of the guestroom walkways to the orchid gardens in the spa, every space relates to an outdoor space of different character and mood. This strategy shows off Sanya’s tropical climate to the fullest. Even the roofs are treated as gardens, so the surrounding high-rise blocks look down at and over the hotel as a huge garden design providing a foreground framing their sea views. The geometry of the roofs and gardens are inspired by the rice-paddy fields of Sanya. Coconut palms frame views of the sea.The design is inspired by Chinese screens, palaces and compounds, interpreted in a contemporary fashion. The huge precast concrete screen is an aperiodic mathematical tiling.

Stylistically the hotel is contemporary, fresh and light. Making full use of the availability of craftsmanship, materials and technology of China, the architecture and interiors are designed together to create a continuous integrated contemporary Asian environment. The hotel is designed to sustainable principles. Passive energy saving design (large overhangs, natural light, cross-ventilation, shaded courtyards, and planted roofs), use of indigenous seasonal landscape and water conservation and recycling are some of the strategies used. The overall design innovation is in the reworking of the large hotel model into a new typology, which combines garden expression with urban typologies to create a hierarchy of privacy and vibrancy that is highly successful.”