Foster + Partners is designing the Southern Dunes hotel in Saudi Arabia as part of The Red Sea Project tourist development on the western coast of the country.
Named Southern Dunes, the Foster + Partners-designed hotel will contain 40 villas sheltered by asymmetric timber roofs.
Set to be built around 100 kilometres northeast of the town of Umluj on Saudi Arabia's western coast, the hotel complex will be surrounded by a remote desert landscape.
The project is one of two inland hotels being built as part of The Red Sea Project, which will see a chain of around 90 uninhabited islands in the Red Sea developed into a tourist resort.
Top and above: Southern Dunes hotel will contain 40 villas within the Saudi Arabian desert
The Southern Dunes hotel villas will be arranged in two lines to take advantage of the view of the surrounding dunes. Alongside the villas, the development will contain reception buildings, a spa, a large pool and several restaurants. Staff accommodation for 700 employees is also being built as part of the project.
Each villa will be covered by an asymmetric roof
Although few details about the hotel have been released, visualisations show villas with asymmetric timber roofs topped with fabric supported on timber frames.
In contrast to the angled forms of the villas, the communal buildings and spaces are sheltered by groups of curved umbrella-like forms supported on timber columns.
Communal buildings will be topped with umbrella-like forms
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