Gabellini Sheppard

Integrated within the natural geometry of the landscape, this resort community in the Maldive Islands expresses a symbiotic exchange between land and sea, the natural and the manmade. An undulating spiral promenade, traversing the entire island and extending into the lagoon, connects land villas and hotel/spa amenities with floating water villa clusters.  Its meandering, processional quality is derived from the inherent curvilinear forms of the island.  

The three-sided island has a naturally concentric and radiating landscape inscribed by beaches: two beaches with private villas and the main beach lined with public amenities.  A series of reef pavilions strategically located at the beach intersections optimize views of the island and water.  Towards the island interior, behind the sand beaches, a lush garden layer surrounds a central clearing, defining eh service and some of the recreational areas of the hotel proposal.  Following this natural curving procession out to the lagoon, the water villas are clustered along the promenade, which extends conceptually as palm fronds floating in the ebb and flow of the tides.