Blog

Congratulations to the entire Shangri-La's Villingili Resort and Spa, Maldives team for winning the Award of Excellence at the 2011 AIA Honolulu Design Awards. Shangri-La Maldives took the top honor out of a field of nearly 40 entries.

Each winner was asked to do a presentation of their project in the Pecha Kucha style (20 slides, 20 seconds per slide). I was thrilled and honored to represent WATG and accept the award. (A copy of the presentation can be viewed here).

Some notable  facts about the project:

• The Tree House Villa is the first of its type to be introduced to the Maldives. No other resorts have villas that sit amongst the trees.
• Buildings were pre-fabricated off-site to minimize construction disturbance.
• Coral stones were used on all buildings.
• Each building was individually sited so that healthy trees and plants were left undisturbed.
• Each villa was positioned to ensure unobstructed ocean views.
• Villas built over the water on stilts were each sited based on an underwater survey to avoid damaging existing live coral.
• Existing lakes and jungles were conserved in their pre-construction condition to maintain the authenticity of the site. Trails were provided for guests to access these areas.
• Mock-ups were used throughout the design process to ensure the building design was appropriate to the site and met the high quality and functional requirements of Shangri-La.

Special thanks to Shangri-La for allowing us to work on this rewarding project, and to the entire team who contributed to the design of the resort.