Best of Year: Resort Hotel

Annie Block -- Interior Design, 12/1/2010 5:45:00 PM

Project: Saffire Freycinet
Firm: Chada and Circa Architecture
Location: Coles Bay, Australia

Next to a protected national park on the Freycinet Peninsula in Tasmania, this property hugs a gentle curve of sandy shoreline near where migrating whales and dolphins come to play. The luxury retreat’s eco-minded buildings, designed by Circa Architecture director Peter Walker, and interiors, the work of Chada creative director Juliet Ashworth, take inspiration from the surroundings: the rippling sapphire-blue water, the flowing white dunes, the gray-green of the bushland, the pink granite mountain peaks. Particularly organic is the main pavilion’s roofline, its undulating ribbed form made from local timber, while the slanted roofs of the 20 freestanding suites combine to create a wave. Inside each suite, custom furniture, contemporary but not hard-edged, mingles with modern classics by the likes of Charles and Ray Eames.

Merit Winners:


Project: Four Seasons Resort
Firm: HBA/Hirsch Bedner Associates
Location: Seychelles
Standout: Perched on a jungle hillside, most of the 67 villas are tree houses, built on stilts and furnished in a Creole style.


Project: Narada Resort & Spa
Firm: PAL Design Consultants
Location: Sanya, China
Standout: Coconut shells and lava stone are among interior materials that blend with the scenery, regenerating body and soul.


Project: Qasr Al Sarab
Firm: HBA/Hirsch Bedner Associates
Location: Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates
Standout: Traditional elements include the hammam’s heated marble treatment platform and the library’s antiqued-bronze lanterns.