Gulf Construction Online - Lush indigenous landscaping

Barr Al Jissah Resort

Plan for the spa area.

Lush indigenous landscaping

01 March 2005

Landscape Designs holds the credit for designing all the external architectural works for all the three hotels and associated facilities at the prestigious Barr Al Jissah Resort and Spa, says Sha Sudha, executive director of the Oman-based Landscape Designs.

This included a variety of swimming pool and spas, a lazy river, water features, pavements, roads and car parks, various shade structures, minor structures in the facility such as beach bars and kiosks, other minor architectural features and soft and hard landscaping.
Building on the concept design created by Wimberley Alison Tong and Goo, Landscape Designs created different themes for the project using indigenous materials as far as possible. It was a thrilling challenge, which Landscape Designs decided to take when the design job was awarded to the firm in September 2002, says Sudha.
“It took almost 10 months for us to complete the detailed design of the three hotels and facilities and another three months to detail the later on added spa, which can be said to an independent property of its own by the size of it,” he adds.
Landscape Designs employed a total number of 25 dedicated staff during the design stage, all under the direction of principal architect Dr Pieter Germeraad and general manager, Nick Lavender.

Al Husn
One of the focal features of the exterior landscaping at the Al Husn hotel is the central courtyard accessed from the hotel’s main entrance as well as via an archway from the swimming pool deck - echoing the rich heritage of Al Hambra. At the centre of the courtyard are two rectangular pools with a number of arching fountains lines with palm trees while along the perimeter are reflecting pools which are interconnected and all surrounded by rich pavements, explains Sudha. The visitors drive into the big port cochere of the hotel lined with palm trees on either side and floors paved with granite sets.
The main highlight of the hotel is a swimming pool deck, which is of various levels and the “infinity edge” swimming pool overlooking the sea from the mountain cliff where Al Husn is situated. The main pool falls into a lower pool - which is almost 3 m below - and behind the water curtain is a lion’s cave, which offers guests to retreat from the busy upper pool deck, he explains. The entire pool deck is set amidst palm trees and shade structures.
Another unique feature of the Al Husn is that it has its own private beach, which will have beach bar and restaurant facilities, heads.

Al Bandar
A majestic fountain adorns the porte cochere of the Al Bandar hotel, which is accessed through a bridge from the entrance road ‘Town Square’. This piazza area, which is lined with palm trees, is set to become a major attraction at the hotel with the adjacent food and beverage outlets and suq – the retail area, Sudha says.
Centrally-placed in the town square is a “dancing” fountain with an interesting design which enhances the vibrancy of the area. A series of swimming pools – including a formal pool which cascades into the main town pool with a few spas located around it – also add to the atmosphere of this area. Centrally placed on the beach front of the pools is a bar which leans on to the water stream. Islands are created in the pool which are accessed by pedestrian bridges. Childrens pools, submerged sun loungers, water streams, various nicely paved terraces, a roll-over beach and an amphitheatre are some of the other attractions in the Al Bandar hotel.
An amphitheatre facing the guest rooms will be used to stage small outdoor functions. Linking the Al Bandar with the Al Waha is a 500m long bi-directional lazy river, which is the most exciting external feature of the resort. Random sun lounging pockets and a tunnel through the seafood restaurant will be some of the interesting factors for the lazy river rides.

Al Waha
Al Waha is accessed from the Al Bandar side through a tunnel that is almost 100 m long - the longest in the Sultanate, says Sudha. Set amidst the surrounding mountain that envelope the porte cochere and both the wings of the hotel, Al Waha is a family-oriented hotel, providing various external features. Al Waha has a number of pools including two main pools, which are visually separated with a pedestrian bridge, a children’s pool and a toddlers play pool, all situated around the pool bar. The pool deck overlooks a lower terraced area and a reclaimed sheltered beach, which extends as a protective arm towards the eastern side of the resort.

Spa
The spa facilities are set in an extensively landscaped garden and include the reception building, gymnasium and dance studio, independent villas and treatment rooms. All the facilities are interconnected with wavy footpaths and water streams at various levels. The main external features include a water garden, a desert garden, an oriental garden, an orchid garden, water cascades and a series of hydrotherapy pools, all set amidst matured palm trees and lush green vegetation.

Omani Heritage Village
The Barr Al Jissah Resort and Spa will offer more than purely comfort and recreation facilities, says Sudha. A traditional “Omani heritage village” offering guests and other visitors a rich taste of the local experience is created at the resort which also includes an amphitheatre with 1,000 seats and a huge performing area. Within this area is the archaeological site which is basically created to preserve all the archeological relics dug up from within site, some of which are more than 5,000 years old. The heritage village will include suqs, Omani tents, stables, falajs, date palm groves, indigenous local vegetation - in fact a number of features that intrinsically make up a traditionally “Omani Village”.

General
The work on external package is currently under way and to provide instant landscape maturity for the resort opening, some 400 of the 1,500 palm trees have already been planted. Another notable aspect of the project is an integrated computerised central control system for the irrigation system with weather stations and other high technological features, which will be the first of its kind in the Sultanate.
Landscape Designs also hold the credit for the design involvement in other hotel projects, also in Oman, including the Al Sawadi Resort, Gulf Hotel extension and The Chedi.