HOSPITALITY
The Sofitel project, located on the Palm Jumeirah in Dubai, includes over 350 guest rooms and nearly 200 full-service apartment suites across 100,000 square meters and 500 meters of beach. In addition, the resort has 13 restaurants, an award-winning 2,000 square meter spa, a kids club, recreation center and ballroom accommodating up to 700 guests
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Sofitel is incredibly special because we created a five-star luxury hotel with the idea that less is more. The environment is luxury by experience: our design satisfies biological needs, allowing visitors to feel relaxed in the environment subliminally. We selected a Polynesian theme and focused on creating a resort that is accordingly natural and pure. The resort is six-stories high but the spaces feel like one-story cabanas. We did this by using first-generation materials and paid attention to lighting and texture, plus elements that convey a rested feeling through experience. The front and back of the resort is the sea and ocean, which we considered the strongest attributes. But we took the weakest part of the project-- the corridor-- and brought to it vertical planting and foliage, thus bringing the outside in. By contrasting dark and light, and creating details and depth in the corridor, we gave visitors the feeling of traversing a natural, green path that offers a fresh, healthy feeling.
From the beginning of the resort to the end, every element provides a clean, connected story that is unique, and every small detail was thought through. For example, take the guest rooms. They have impressive entrances with indirect light and natural wood, plus natural stone with unpolished textures that makes you feel at one with the earth and all that is untouched and still pure. Nearly everything is neutral, but the bold colors of the curtains and pillows are symbols of the bright flowers typical to Polynesia. The rooms provide a sanctuary, and the art, often a close-up of something you might find typically when hiking the outdoors, gives guests the ability to find awareness in details they might typically pass up—thus further embracing the natural.
Furthermore, all the furniture is designed according to museum pieces from Polynesia, including the same concept of purity and simplicity in shape. They are custom pieces that further enhance the space. All details have been attention to—the faucets are waterfall-like. In fact, every sound was thought through. The operation of the faucet recreates a sound that enhances the purity of the resort. This is particularly true in the lobby, where the waterfalls create a background sound that emphasizes oneness with nature.
The spa, which has already earned three awards, is centered on the theme of a butterfly, which grows from cocoon to its final form. In the spa, guests can view the various stages of the creature, symbolizing rejuvenation and rebirth. This concept inspires guests in a parallel way, allowing visitors to become beautiful, fresh and free. The water, sounds, colors and corridors again circles back to the unified theme of art in nature and oneness with the environment.
