Tel Aviv practice Plesner Architects has built a hotel in the Negev desert of Israel harnessing local materials and regional craft like limestone walls, ceramics and pergolas.
The hotel Six Senses Shaharut spans 46 acres (18 hectares) in the tiny desert community of Shaharut in the far south of the country.

Pleaser Architects designed the resort on a sandy site that includes 60 suites and villas with expansive views of the Arava Valley and ridges of the Edom mountains.
The studio partially buried many of the buildings into the ground and built them with rough-hewn limestone and flint excavated from the site, as well as thatched roofs, outdoor walkways and swimming pools.

"We wanted the stones, the patterns, the textures and the colours to be omnipresent, resulting in architecture that is woven in with the natural elements," Pleaser Architects said. The design is intended as a modern interpretation of architecture from the region's ancient civilisations, particularly the nomadic Nabataeans who were skilled traders and specialised in carving their capital city Petra into the rocky cliffs of nearby Jordan.

"The design of the property is the result of a dialogue between protecting and taking advantage of the unique characteristics of the site, which together build the memory and experience of visiting the Negev," said the studio.
"This manifested in a concept that is a modern interpretation of nomadic structures, reminiscent of the Nabataean communi...