The Brief: Create the resort design for a very exclusive property in Saudi.
The Challenge: In keeping with strict Saudi customs, we needed to design two completely separate areas; one for married couples and the other for men.
The Project: A luxurious resort was being built on the outskirts of Riyadh and MDNS Studio was brought in to provide the resort design plans. Lavish facilities were required to entertain the owner’s guests (it was a private ‘resort’ which are quite popular in Saudi). The challenge, though, was figuring out how to separate and screen the men’s area from the married couple’s section, in accordance with Saudi tradition.
We came up with a U-shaped resort design with a central service area that divided the two sections. It’s a modern, flat-roofed building with floor to ceiling windows and a retro interior design. We created spacious bedrooms with en suite facilities and large lounges and dining rooms. We screened the male area from the married couple section with palm trees to make it look as natural as possible.
For those warm Saudi evenings, we created two outdoor lounges, one with a fire pit, to encourage a comfortable chatting atmosphere. For daytime activities, the resort design features a 30-metre swimming pool, a dip pool, a half-length football pitch and horses’ stables.
The result is a resort design that is contemporary, spacious and comfortable, and respects the country’s customs.
