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Sustainable luxury hotel in Wadi Rum, Jordan to be carved into natural rockface
Oppenheim Architecture + Design (OAD) has recently won an ambitious competition for an opulent hotel in the Jordanian region of Wadi Rum. Due for completion in 2014, the successful concept suggests inserting 47 desert lodges into the red sandstone cliffs and constructing additional facilities from rammed earth and cement mixed with local red sand.
This world-class location will afford incredible views over the undulating natural landscape, an hour and a half outside the historical city of Petra – also carved into a rockface. Care has been taken to blur the boundaries between the manufactured resort and the natural scenery, enhancing the visitor experience and taking full advantage of the inherent cooling effect of rocks.
Chad Oppenheim, founder of OAD explains: “We have trained and heightened our senses to see, smell, taste, hear, and touch the mystical beauty of Wadi Rum. We tapped the inherent power of the desert through primal and instinctual design moves, informed by the forces, rhythms and patterns of nature - past, present, and future.”
Numerous sustainable measures have been fed into the design concept, such as the reharvesting of grey/black water through a living machine of botanical nature, and various water conservation systems for both human and site irrigation.
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