French architect Jean Nouvel has unveiled the design for a subterranean hotel that will be carved into a sandstone hill in the AlUla desert in Saudi Arabia.
Named Sharaan by Jean Nouvel, the resort will be cut into the sandstone hills in the AlUla area of Saudi Arabia, which is around 220 miles north of the city of Medina and contains the Madâin Sâlih UNESCO World Heritage site.
Sharaan by Jean Nouvel hotel in Saudi Arabia
According to the architect, the subterranean resort was informed by the nearby UNESCO World Heritage site where the remains of a Nabataean city can be found.
The Nabataean people occupied the Arabian Desert in between the second and fourth century BC and carved cities, including Petra in Jordan, into the area's sandstone rock. The hotel will have a circular entrance courtyard
"AlUla is a museum," said Nouvel. "Every wadi and escarpment, every stretch of sand and rocky outline, every geological and archaeological site deserves the greatest consideration."
"It's vital we keep all its distinctiveness and conserve its attractiveness, which largely rests on its remote and occasionally archaic character," he continued. "We have to safeguard a little mystery as well as the promise of discoveries to come."
Rooms will be carved into the sandstone cliff
Sharaan by Jean Nouvel will contain 40 rooms and three resort villas that will be cut into a cliff face, with each suite having a balcony that looks out across the surr...