Set on a complexly figured north facing site in Jimbaran, with panoramic views over Jimbaran and Sanur Bays plus the mountains that make up the interior of Bali, the design calls for a MICE hotel of 350 keys to be sold as “condotel” units and operated by the Accor group.

The site’s topography is very complex, part of the hotel is perched on the top of a cliff face, whilst the bulk of the accommodation drops into a valley that was the site of a former quarry 27m below.

To achieve the relatively low budget demanded by the developer, our design was subjected to rigorous analysis  of gross and net floor areas and achieve maximum efficiencies of space use. To avoid the usual “tunnel” like “deep plan” rooms which typify such hotels, Gfab posited a far wider 6m room type which maximizes the views available to the guests and allows light to enter the bathrooms at the rooms rear.

In addition to the guest accommodation and full conference/exhibition facilities the design includes provision for 2 restaurants, spa/fitness centre and 550 m2 pool with an artificial beach.

The design, like all new hotels in Bali, is subject to stringent planning rules which chiefly demand “local style” pitched roofs despite the obvious advantage of flat, garden roofs in this instance. Gfab responded to this constraint by developing hybrid a roof type which is able to benefit from the passive cooling/insulation offered by green roofs whilst maintaining the outward appearance for planning of a pitched roof. Slim walls of terracotta  rise to form the pitch whilst between them, garden beds are developed. Seen from above, in the main public spaces of the hotel above, these create a strong, almost “graphic” landscape treatment, whilst the landscape 5 stories below (designed by Gfab) continues this theme, the roof of the poolside restaurant and spa, appearing as a long rectangular reflecting pool within the composition. The blocks of the accommodation appear stratified, with planter boxes at every level, evoking in an abstract manner, the former use of the land itself.

The main public spaces of the building are organized to maximize the vistas offered from the higher ground, the design posits the use of long span engineering (usually associated with bridge construction) to form the roof over the lobby. This element is, in effect, an inverted pitched roof, (a reflecting pool above ensures uninterrupted views from the accommodation at the rear of the site.  In a conscious attempt to bring “local’ content” into the design, the  “pitched” underside of the roof is lined with Balinese “Ukiran” (traditional carved fretwork) panels, whilst batik fabrics are draped through its centre/apex to form a light feature for the space which addresses the magnificent views across a 33 m long reflecting pool forming the  roof of the conference wing below.