Boat International US Edition – June 2019

PHOTOGRAPHY: RALPH TOOTEN

BOAT LIFE

erchedonthesouthern

rimofthe Maldives’

BaaAtoll,aUNESCO-

protectedbio-reserve,

theWestinMaldivesMiriandhoo

Resort seems to have grown

organicallyfromthesilkysanded

coralislandonwhichitsits.The

architecturemirrorsthevividreefs

thatbloominitsgin-clearwaters

and the cetaceans that glide

throughthedeeperreaches.

Thissynchronicityistheworkof

ItalianarchitectGiampieroPeia,

P

aformerpartnerofPieroLissoni

whose Milan-basedfirm,Peia

Associati(startedwithhiswife,

architectMartaNasazzi),hasa

sterling recordin sustainable

development.Whenhearrivedina

monsoontoscoutoutthepristine

setting,theboatcaptainrefusedto

dock.“SoIdivedintothewaterand

despitethesharks,reefsandwaves,

Iarrivedontheisland,”herecalls.

Thelocationwasfertileground

forhisimagination.“Thefirstthing

that I saw on the beach was a clam.”

This inspired the design of the

arrival jetty, and during the five

hours he wandered alone, other

natural shapes hatched in his mind,

among them the kid’s club (a white

whale) and the arrivals lounge

(a whale shark).

The resort sprawls unobtrusively

over the island, its three restaurants,

sunset bar, pool, spa, gym, 70 suites

and villas melting into the lush

green backdrop or set low and

wave-like against the seascape.

Key to the project was Japanese

developer Belluna, which

understood that natural bounty is

the greatest luxury this resort can

offer. The Overwater Villas feature

glass floor sections for observing

fish, and decks with private pools

for watching the passing traffic of

rays and dolphins.

To avoid damaging the reefs that

feed these spectacles, the concrete

pilings for the villas were

positioned with the help of a local

environmental consultant, and they

worked fast. “If works in the water

last too long, the fish won’t come

back,” Peia says. Vegetation was

protected too – instead of ripping it

out and replanting around the new

resort, the design left as much

intact as possible.

Natural attraction

CarolineWhitevisitsaMaldivesresortthat’s

designedtoblendandcoexistwithnature

Browse more

eco-friendly

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Maldivian coral

reefs account

for five percent

of the world’s

total reef area

The resort dispenses

with the thatched roof

design commonplace

at other resorts

All villas and suites

have private decks,

and the Overwater

Villas have glass-

floor sections

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