Hospitality Design - January/February 2012 - 33

sketchbook

perspectives

for the coffee table
When J.N. Tata opened the Taj Palace Hotel in what was then Bombay in 1903, it would not only mark the beginning of Taj Hotels, Resorts & Palaces’ impact on India’s hospitality culture, but this agship property also symbolized progress. At the time, Bombay was in the midst of the Bubonic Plague, and the arrival of this architecturally stunning hotel, quickly established as the country’s nest, offered hope. Through the years, it never lost its fabled reputation, with maharajas and celebrities alike nding solace in its rooms. Over a century later, historians Charles Allen and Sharada Dwivedi delineate the hotel’s regal past and parallel it with India’s own transformation in The Bunder Taj at Apollo Bunder, a candid, 12-chapter coffee table book brimming with vintage tales that was released this fall. The book can be purchased at the Pierre Hotel in New York or on Amazon.com, with proceeds to bene t the Taj Public Service Welfare Trust.

bigger is better
San Francisco-based SB Architects and Ft. Lauderdale, Florida landscape designers EDSA have just completed the Mission Hills Volcanic Mineral Springs and Spa on Hainan Island, one of the world’s largest spa destinations. The major component of 5-Star resort Mission Hills Haikou, measuring in at 950,000 square feet, it is home to the largest natural volcanic lava springs reserve (with more than 150) in the region, which are organized into a series of ve continental zones, each designed to re ect the architectural heritage and bathing rituals of each region (think Roman baths, Turkish hammams); 473,000 square feet of landscaped gardens; and 61 spa suites and 29 spa villas. “The hot springs are a whole-day attraction—people line up and go through turnstiles to get to the pools,” says Scott Lee, president of SB Architects. “We have never designed at this scale and all at the same place.” The highlights, according to Lee, are the paths that serpentine throughout the property, and its dramatic arrival—the c-shaped main spa building. Taking its form from the traditional Hakka Earthen Fortress Villages of southern China, it's made of semi-circular bamboo rising from a massive lava stone base. “It’s a super structure; it’s just huge. It’s like the seventh wonder of the world,” jokes Lee.

deﬁning unique
With a tagline “Unique as You Are,” Sparsa Resorts is taking sense of place to a whole new level. And for the brand’s next 15 ecosensitive 3- and 4-Star boutique resorts planned for throughout India, developer Auromatrix Hotels tapped newly formed Beverly Hills ﬁrm SR3 Design to create a brand identity. “They thought they had a design brief, but they really want things to be of the region,” says Ryan Oxford, formerly of Wilson Associates and now SR3’s director of development. “Each one will be different.” Expect spaces that blend into the surroundings, ﬁlled with natural elements— woods, stones, shells—and indigenous and spiritual elements that celebrate the location’s culture. “It’s not your typical hotel resort,” says Melissa Messmer, SR3’s design director. “It’s an eco hotel, not from an accredited standpoint, but in a sense that it evolves out of natural elements.” First up: Sri Lanka, set to open later this year, which will boast bungalow villas www.hospitalitydesign.com

with a modern and clean background that’s infused with pieces by local craftsmen. For instance, the vanity is an old temple table converted to a washbasin, and light ﬁxtures

will be vibrantly beaded to celebrate local jewelry making. “It’s all about how we can incorporate indigenous culture to bring in personality,” says Messmer.

January/February 2012

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Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of Hospitality Design - January/February 2012