Designs for the Ummahat AlShaykh Hotel 12 have been revealed by The Red Sea Development Company (TRSDC). The hotel will be located on one of 90 islands under development in the Red Sea projects archipelago off Saudi Arabia’s western coast.
Britain-based global architectural firm Foster+Partners has been chosen to design the hotel. They are currently also working on two other hotels for the project: Southern Dunes hotel and Coral Bloom.
Foster’s circular proposal in the middle of the Red Sea is designed for Ummahat AlShaykh island but goes past the boundary of land by using stilts to build suites far into the water. Each hotel suite breaks away from the continuous circular path and is covered with a tropical timber roof. This style is used for all buildings in the resort including guest rooms, restaurants, and public rest areas all over the island.
“When we looked at the islands our approach was to have a light touch. As light as we could possibly be,” Gerard Evenden of Foster + Partners, explains of the firm’s intent to intoduce tourism to the remote site with little to no harm to the natural environment.
“How do you bring people to these places where nobody has been before?” asks Evenden. “And how do you bring people into those places without damaging anything?” These are the questions and concerns that drove the design and helped Foster + Partners to develop a minimally invasive proposal while allowing guests to truly appreciate and enjoy the environment.
The Red Sea Project’s goal is to be “100 per cent carbon neutral. The resorts will be powered entirely by renewable energy. Single-use plastic will be banned and no waste from the hotels will end up in landfills.