Architecture studio Anarchitect has turned a couple of stone buildings in the UAE into Al Faya Lodge, a hotel and saltwater spa in the Sharjah desert.
A complex of buildings now forms the Al Faya Lodge, which sits in the red sands at the foot of Mount Alvaah in the Emirate of Sharjah.

The pair of stone buildings originally built half a century ago, which once housed a cafe and a grocery shop, have been adapted to become a five-room boutique hotel.
Over the road a new building houses a saltwater spa complete with an open air swimming pool.

Anarchitect used the striking rust colour of weathered steel to highlight the interventions in the old stone buildings.
This coloured metal was also chosen to echo the rich deposits of iron ore in the area, which is close to one of the first oil wells built in the United Arab Emirates.
"Desert conditions present extreme heat in summer with intense and prolonged sun exposure so it is important to consider these factors when first designing the form and mass of the building," explained Jonathan Ashmore, founder and principal of Anarchitect, which has offices in Dubai and London.

"The selection of suitable and robust materials [goes] hand in hand. Desert sites are exposed to all the elements and not just sunlight. The elements also include driving rain, sand storms and low-temperatures at night."

Locally sourced concrete and stone were used to build the new structures for the hotel complex. Terraced decks are raised a...