The New Means of Hospitality: Redefining Luxury
Welcome to Cloud Nine
The amazing fertility of the Balinese soil has accorded the Balinese a lot of leisure time, aside from their work as peasants, and stimulated their imagination and creativity. They would channel their creativity in such artistic ways even down on to their daily activities, such as the art of making offerings and the custom of rituals and ceremonies. Blessed with breathtaking nature and rich culture makes Bali is a hotspot for a restful and relaxing retreat. No wonder numerous lavish resorts and polished villas spring in every corner of the island, making it the island of hospitality, as well as a luxurious vacation destination. Breaking the stereotype of “luxury villa”, Cloud Nine Esatate is one of our landscape projects in Ubud has proven to portray a new approach to luxury hospitality.
Tucked in a cliff top of Ubud, Cloud Nine Estate may not look as it seems from the outside. It is veiled from the bustling crowd of people, away from the hustle of downtown Ubud, a hidden gem amidst the lush greens of Ubud. From the main road, the guests follow a mossy stairway down to the estate; and are served a million dollar view of the massive Wos River and valley. The estate consists of 3 different houses at the moment (who knows if they would expand anytime soon!), named Star Cloud Villa, Lotus Cloud Villa and Angel Cloud is a two storey villa comprising three suites – Anjali, Tara and Dewi suite. We made each villa to have a different focal point and unique features, like the amazing cliff edge panoramic view, the beautiful tropical garden or a direct access to the infinity shared pool.
We designed the landscape to be as eye-catching to complement the whole concept really well. The first impression guests receive on arrival is an all-white themed angkul-angkul (Balinese gate) and boundary wall that somewhat reminds them of arriving at a dreamy peaceful sanctuary. We felt the color white really brings out ‘the Cloud Nine’ vibe down to the every boundary wall and pathway, as it also stands out among the greens surrounding the estate. A “heavenly” feeling… That was exactly what the client wished to deliver to the guests, for them to experience ultimate calmness and tranquility as they enter the Cloud Nine, therefore we assisted them to achieve this.
Luxury at its finest
Cloud Nine mission is to redefine luxury. What exactly is the meaning of “redefining luxury?” A fancy chandelier, some high-tech facilities or marbled floor and tables will come up in a lot of people’s mind when they think of luxury resort, but it is different when it comes to the Cloud Nine Estate. Cloud Nine Estate aims to re conceptualize luxury as so much more than fancy things, luxury that is found in the smallest and simplest details.Things like hand-picked vegetable from the garden, the personal care and connection from people of the village and the vibrant sound of nature waking you up in the morning. In short, it is something that is felt by the heart. We loved the idea and delighted to help them making it come true through our landscape design.
The timeless echo architecture
The architecture of their buildings was inspired from the owner previous home in Singapore with big walls and monochromatic color of white and grey. It was a colonial tropical villa that has lasted since World War I. It lasted without the need for much maintenance or changing of materials. The building was showcasing many eco-architectural features such as cross-ventilation and strategic shading. The houses applied simple yet strong materials with a lot of white polished cement.
The landscape of course, synergized the concept of the building. We inspired to bring in the simplicity of localness from one of the traditional villages. It is designed with massive walls and few plantations. We kept it to be very simple yet eye-catching, with only a touch of green plants and trees amidst the white washed ocean of walls and floors. On the landscape, we applied white terrazzo as the pathway and a little touch of woods on the decks. Even with the artworks and design features, the clients involved so much in the process, carefully hand-picking them to create a harmonious atmosphere and we helped them creating the design that contains of local story. We also made sure to not ruin the aesthetic by adding to much color to the whole picture.
Embraced by the sturdy old colonial houses, the client wished for the villa to be long lasting with a minimum amount of maintenance and remodeling. The overall design is very timeless and eco-friendly. We have worked together to apply the concept very neatly in every aspect of the estate and consistently practice in to every slight detail, proven why they are the global winner for the luxury eco villa. Cloud Nine Estate manage to accentuate the luxury in the simplest thing in life and deliver them splendidly to the guest, since truly the best things in life are often felt by heart. We are so thrilled to be involved in such an inspiring project.
Cheers,
SHL Asia Team
IMAGE COURTESY: @CLOUDNINEESTATE
Landscaping A Tropical Garden: An Oasis In the Midst of Limestone Field
Aesthetically pleasing tropical garden
One should appear lush and vibrant; this can be accomplished through dense planting of proper trees, greens and flowering plants. A tropical garden must features tropical plants and requires a good deal of sunlight and a warm, moist climate. These gardens need a good amount of water from either rainfall or decent irrigation system or sprinkler system in order to thrive well. In planting out the garden, there are some things to consider about. The major variables include the location of the site, and the placement and density of the plants and the selection of softscape and hardscape. It all of course, comes back to the personal preference, but in creating a good aesthetically pleasing garden will have to contemplate on these variables. In this month’s article we will bring you a case study from one of our landscape projects: Kapungkur Villa.
An arid hills
The villa is located in Karangsari, a village in Jimbaran. Geographically the area is in South Kuta, Badung district. The area is more known as Bukit (hills) where most of the area is situated on a karst plateau. Unlike the area in the north part of Badung where the land consists of volcanic materials, Bukit area is mostly contain of limestone. Contrasting from the other parts of Badung which the soil holds a lot of minerals making it very fertile, the soil in Bukit area is rather dry and not suitable for agriculture. The area also only has periodic rivers where the water only flows when it is raining and the groundwater filling process only happens during the rainy season. Although sited in a dry location, it did not stop the owner to seek after creating a green oasis.
Throwback from the past
The landscape concept idea of the villa was royal village. The owner wanted to give out the nuance of the past hence, the name itself, “Kapungkur” comes from a Sundanese word which means dahulu (the past). It would show the characteristic of royal village with contemporary looks, privacy and involves historical value in the components of the landscape. It also has a mixed of Javanese and Balinese traditional contemporary style. The villas are using frameworks of a traditional Javanese house, or Joglo, with the Balinese accents here and there.
The first step is..
Before selecting the variety of plants, we first must have to identify the “issue” on the site. The biggest issue with this site was the existence of an apartment building behind it. The apartment is at least a few stories building. This gave it a viewing access over the site, affecting the privacy of the villa. Therefore, in order to sort it out, we chose to plant tall trees like coconut tree (cocos nucifera) and wide, dense trees such African tulip tree (spatodhea campanulata) along the border wall in the back area. Further, to really block the view from the top, we built a a six meters vertical garden with double butterfly pea (clitoria ternatea var. pleniflora) that would also give appealing visual with its violet flowers.
In addition, the owner wished to bring the lushness to this dry area. As a result, we had to select plants and trees that would grow well with such condition and still appear vibrant and dense in order to deliver that kind of ambience to the landscape. Therefore, we chose a variety of different high and low shrubs from crystal anthurium (anthurium crystallinum), giant taro (alocasia macrorrhizos), cuban cigar (calathea lutea), plum aralia (polyscias scutellaria) to fern-leaf aralia (polyscias cumingiana). Most of this vegetation will thrive well with moderate water and full sun exposure. It made them suitable with the soil condition in Bukitarea, but of course still follows with intense maintenance. Some of these shrubs could be found around the yard in old village houses. This would bring the traditional value and nostalgic nuance to the residence. We also planted flamboyant (delonix regia) and bael (aegle marmelos) on a few spots to add some accents
The magic touch of hardscape
Aside from softscape, the presence of hardscape in a tropical garden is as crucial. It functions as the “backbone” of the garden by giving it structure and unifies it with the surrounding environment, completing the whole vista. We installed a few ponds, a pool and some traditional-contemporary artworks around the site.
The gardens of Kapungkur Villa built in two levels following the contour of the site. We built the main ponds on higher parts of a property so that they can gravity-feed water down the garden and ponds below, creating a little creek. Combining the water element to the landscape would appeal to all the senses, enhancing peacefulness and freshness.
For the artworks, we set up statues and a Balinese relief on the wall to follow the whole concept of Kapungkur. To achieved our costumed artworks we also worked together with the local artists and craftsmen to really bring out the sense of localness.
There are many things to consider in planning out and creating a beautiful functioning tropical garden. Things like location and the condition of soil will determine what kind of plants will be planted on the site. The desired concept will as well decide the placement and density of each softscape and hardscape. As in building the tropical garden of Kapungkur Villa, its location was the main thing to really consider about. Therefore we selected the plants that would only need fewer requirements but still grow beautifully. We placed them with a combination of different heights to make it appear dense and lush. And then wrapped all up with the touch of appropriate hardscapes to the landscape. The outcome came out harmoniously as projected in the video down below.
Cheers,
SHL Asia team
Behind The Scene: The Creative Process of Making The Landscape Design of Natya Resort Ubud
How do architects
actually find inspiration and ideas, and then make them come alive? It is not an easy process, nor a linear one. Being creative is work, it takes time and effort. Ideas can be found in every place and every situation, even when you expect it the least. Creative process of an architect may differ from one another. One may just spend some quiet time and find a muse. While others may go out door or spend a lot of time on site. We would walk through the property and explore the area as the inspiration for Natya Resorts came to us.
For us, one of the initial and crucial processes in finding inspiration is to be open-minded and to take in any possibility out there. The process in making Natya Resort landscape design, of course, involved a lot of research and observation like in every other project. We spent some time on site to study the landscape as we wanted to truly feel the ambiance and it helped us to figure out what kind of story we would want to bring to the table. As architects, we always wish to provide unique experiences in every project to give a personal touch for people to remember hence, it is important to differentiate each project by paying more attention to details.
Since this project is located in Ubud,
Bali’s highland, we had to understand first the texture and contour of the landscape surrounding Ubud. The area is truly blessed with plenty of rainfall which makes the river flowing, rich soil, bountiful jungle and paddy rice all year around. These are the things that people come to Ubud for, it is what makes Ubud perfect for a peaceful and romantic retreat. The site is nestle deep in the heart of Ubud rain forest preserve. It is situated on the sides of a steep valley, a rather unusual land contour which was quite challenging. Another thing to keep in mind was that not only we had to preserve the native environment and nature, but also to respect the local tradition.
A couple of the concepts
we used for Natya Resort Ubud are the concept of “tegalan” and “subak.” Tegalan is a term for agricultural land turned into a plantation field, containing different variety of fruit trees and vegetation. As for subak, not only it functions as irrigation system for paddy fields in Bali but also a direct overview of the philosophy of Tri Hita Karana for Balinese people. There are a lot of tegalan and subak throughout the area, due to the richness and fertility of Ubud. We wanted to elevate the concept of tegalan and subak to the level of hospitality as in resorts and villa for this project.
The range of tropical fruit trees includes:
- water apple (syzygium aqueum)
- sugar apple (annona squamosa)
- banana (musa acuminate)
- jackfruit (artocarpus heterophyllus)
- bilimbi (averrhoa bilimbi)
- kedondong (spondias dulcis)
- coconut tree (cocos nucifera)
We also applied tropical native and decorative trees and shrubs, such as:
- frangipani (plumeria)
- butterfly tree (bauhinia ‘blakeana’)
- traveller’s palm (ravenala madagascariensis)
- tower tree (schizolobium parahyba)
- weeping fig (ficus benjamina)
- ferns tree (nephrolepis exaltata)
- bird nest (asplenium nidus)
- cola de paloma (xiphidium caeruleum)
Some of these flower plants and tress function as plants of birds, they would attract birds which is also good for the environment. They planted scattered all through the site, all along the pathways and around the villas. Meanwhile, we integrated the original subak to the manmade subak which flowing through the site.
Another concept for Natya came when thinking about Ubud as the heart of culture and art. It gave us an idea to bring the daily life of Bali through the details of artworks, and the application of local materials. Things such as chicken cages and cow’s bell that are part of village landscape were utilized as lamp cases and hanging decoration. The pergolas all over the resort implemented hardwood like ironwood that is proper for outdoor usage. The relief carvings of Bali’s daily life and folk stories on some kerobokan sandstone walls along the pathway in the project. We as well placed statues from sandstone and wooden artworks in every corner of the resort. We hoped these little; precise details will tell stories to the guests, adding a nice touch to their experience.
Besides spending time on site, we would also spend hours looking at images and talking to the architect and clients. The landscape must be build to complement the buildings and vice versa hence, the conversation with the architect is also crucial. We wanted to design the landscape so the buildings seem blending beautifully with the surrounding nature. We plant a lot of trees that function as a barrier to keep privacy and especially to preserve the lush nature of the site because the buildings were designed to be nature oriented. This will ensure the guests can interact with nature from the privacy of their vil
Talking to our clients is another thing in designing this project. We must know what the clients want and need. We tried our best to visualize it and were pleased to have one vision regarding the Natya Resort project with the owner. We seem to have a great synergy and often give each other feedback. The creative process in making the design of Natya Project was challenging and thrilling at the same time. Inspiration and ideas really came from many sources. We embraced them and incorporate one another with the result of some beautiful harmonious elements which makes Natya Resort truly one and only. For more insight of the landscape design, check out our video down below!