Design
Left: Luxury rooms in the One&Only Mandarina are
integrated with nature.
Opposite page: The One&Only
Mandarina is nestled on Mexico’s Riviera Navarit coastline.
A luxury fiesta One property that has integrated with the natural world more than most is the One&Only Mandarina, which opened in November 2020 atop lush cliffs on Mexico’s Riviera Nayarit coastline. ‘Nestled’ is an overused word to describe luxury properties, but in this case it truly applies. The 104-room hotel is nestled under the green canopy of the coastal rainforest, an integration that will only become more ingrained over time as the rainforest continues to grow around the property, which stretches across a 33-hectare landscape.
“This is a story that is based on an ongoing
conversation with nature to ask for its assistance for the new built environment,” says Hakan Ozkasikci, SVP design and technical services at Kerzner, which operates One&Only hotels. Indeed, the group’s design partners in this dialogue, Rick Joy Studio, were chosen because of the importance they place on bringing nature and local culture into their design concepts. “Their design ethos is based on creating a strong connection with nature and striking a fine balance with the local culture via building connotations through design,” Ozkasikci explains. Together, their vision was not only to surprise guests but to pique their curiosity to go out and explore – a feeling, Ozkasikci says, that is “simply addictive”. “The ability to surprise our guests has been maintained as we managed to provide truly incredible views and experiences in an environment, which people could not inhabit and enjoy otherwise. We wanted to craft each unit and facility to embed memories that would create a sense of curiosity to explore more. Given the returning guest rates, the sensation seems to be stronger than we dreamed of,” he smiles. While the walls of the resort’s villas are mainly glass,
with skylights allowing guests to stay attuned to the shifting rhythms of the clouds, personal plunge pools
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www.hmi-online.com
are bordered by lush greenery. Meanwhile freestanding treehouse rooms float 40 feet above ground, blending indoor and outdoor spaces with floor-to-ceiling windows and sliding walls. Expansive terraces overlook the distant horizon. “The interaction with the immediate surrounding provokes an awareness that one wants to perceive further as far as the eye can see,” Ozkasikci adds. “Be it in a tree house or in a villa, this co-existence exercise is exceptional, especially for the guests coming from an urban context.”
Lessons from nature
In a complete inversion of the typical design approach, with a project such as this, nature is in charge. “This property truly grows out of the site, and the architectural language is in sync with the environment in terms of materials, textures and colours in a way so humble that it all feels natural,” Ozkasikci says. To ensure that the property blended seamlessly into
its environment, with as little disruption as possible to the nature surrounding it, it was important to approach the design process with humility and maturity. “As a brand we do our best to respect the environment and to do that in this case, we had to make sure we understood the forces that shaped that location and factored them into the concept,” Ozkasikci explains. “Once the connection is made with the context, sustainability is a natural outcome.” The One&Only Mandarina is located in a dense
forest that sprawls over steep hills, which meant the design team had to be mindful of the long-term mutual impact of the building on the site and the site on the building. “If we choose to be somewhere with any of our resorts, we are honest about the rationale for being there – a copy and paste approach is not ideal as every location has unique characteristics to be considered,” Ozkasikci stresses.
104
The number of rooms in the One&Only Mandarina, which is located on Mexico’s Riviera Nayarit coastline and stretches across a 33- hectare landscape. One&Only Mandarina
33
One&Only Mandarina
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