WATG's Newest Bali Project: a Unique Luxury Complex
Irvine, CA (PRWEB) December 18, 2013 -- WATG, together with development consortium Agung Podomoro Land (APL) and French hotelier Sofitel, is delighted to announce the opening of the 415-key Sofitel Nusa Dua Beach Resort in Bali. The comfort and elegance the industry has come to expect from WATG’s projects was achieved in record time on a challenging site.
Nusa Dua is a master-planned development that includes several luxury hotels, among them the Grand Hyatt Bali and the Conrad Bali, both designed by WATG and among the most successful hotels on the island. APL and WATG began the concept design in mid-2011. WATG Senior VP Ron Van Pelt says: "Completion of the resort in late 2013 was a major accomplishment. Two years from concept to completion is remarkable for any development project, let alone a five-star luxury resort."
This extraordinary speed was driven by an extremely tight deadline. In 2011, it was announced that Indonesia was to be the host country for the APEC Conference in October 2013, with Nusa Dua as the venue. The hotel—yet to be designed, let alone built—was to accommodate the Indonesian President and his ministers and to be the venue for the Heads of State meetings that would culminate the Conference. A 2,300-square meter Retreat Center was designed to host these meetings.
Other unique features are responses to challenges posed by the site. For over two decades, it had been an eyesore occupied by a half-finished project—more than a hundred partially completed villas. The design brief required retaining some of these, on a site with a narrow beach frontage and limited ocean-view opportunities. In the end, 17 of the villas were retained, while ocean views were achieved for 60 percent of the guest rooms. Still more unusual aspects of the hotel are characteristic WATG touches of celebrating and integrating the local culture into the project. Senior Designer Chiara Calufetti-Lim says: "The idea was to create a complete Bali experience within the site. For example, in the lobby, guests are welcomed by large timber columns that support the roof. The columns symbolize a banyan tree, which in Balinese villages are the center of social life."
The design of the Sofitel was WATG's first project with APL, which has since commissioned WATG to design two additional five-star hotels in West Java and Bali and to consult on the consortium's mixed-use project in Bandung.
About WATG
Over the last six decades, WATG and affiliated design studio Wimberly Interiors have become the world's leading design consultants to the hospitality, leisure, and entertainment industries. With offices in Honolulu, Irvine, Istanbul, Los Angeles, New York, and Singapore, the full-service design firm is known for creating internationally acclaimed destinations in 160 countries across six continents. WATG offers one-of-a-kind design services including planning, urban design, architecture, landscape, interior design, and strategy for urban tourism and resort destinations. Many of WATG's projects, like Atlantis in the Bahamas and Emirates Palace in UAE, have become international landmarks.
WATG’s projects are renowned not only for their design and sense of place but also for their bottom-line success. To view WATG’s portfolio of projects, visit http://www.watg.com/index.cfm/view/projects-by-region.
For more information about WATG, visit http://www.watg.com. Follow @WATG and @Wimberly_Int on Twitter.
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Andrea Wagner, WATG, http://www.watg.com, +1 (949) 2703177, [email protected]
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