Located at North Chaweng beach, Bophut, Koh Samui, Surat Thani with approximate 8.3 Rai (acre), Hyatt Regency Koh Samui(HRKS) takes visitors on an artful experience of ephemerality and nature. Our team’s vision for HRKS started to come together after the site visit. It really is a joint effort between us, architecture team, interior team and the owner to convey these beautiful sceneries into a unique experience that blends seamlessly with the guests’ lifestyle.
Having seen such a wide range of terrain the site has to offer, speckled by a constellation of existing Yang Na trees (Dipterocarpus alatus), it was really clear to us that this place has the potential to be more than just a destination; a heritage journey in vacation gallery. Our landscape concept the “Vacation in the Gallery”, gives the guests more pleasant surprises and connection to nature the more they explore, be it a matchless overall experience or a stunning view along the passage. This unique piece of land has opened up numerous opportunities for us to bring the most out of the resort’s striking characters in the right pacing without overcrowding the experience. At a larger scale, we had to consider the flow of the program placements in tandem with the existing terrain for a master plan that best serve the guests, both practically and visually.
Open and connected, but not everything is revealed all at once, that charm really plays well with the “Vacation in the Gallery” concept we were going for. The challenge was in the details, making our visions and designs work in hands with the existing conditions, such as maintaining each tree elevation, maximizing the view shed from the terrain and preserving Yang Na trees (some over 100 years old) and other local trees.
It is crucial to acknowledge that landscape and nature are not static, they are seasonal, temporal and dynamics. With that said, it does not necessarily mean that these variables are our obstacles. HRKS has done really well in embracing these elements and have them play to our strength. The six galleries, Forest, Color, Cliff, Rock, Beach and the Pool area showcase different natural elements found on site, provide a needed change of pace in such a vast property. Preservation of local trees gives this project a unique esthetic that lasts. There is nothing more sustainable than protecting the beauty that is meant to be there.
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