Internationally award-winning architect Jean Nouvel has revealed designs for a hotel carved into a giant ancient rock in Saudi Arabia. The design is inspired by the ancient city of Petra in Jordan, considered one of the seven wonders of the world, showcasing the unique beauty of a modern project on the foundation of an ancient land.
The Sharaan Hotel will be built in Al-'Ula, a site about 563 km from Petra and 354 km from Medina. "Al-'Ula is like an open-air museum, where you can walk around and see the mountains with their characteristic rock layers and picturesque landscapes. Working here is a great responsibility and challenge," said Jean Nouvel.
“Al-'Ula is not just a desert, it is truly a museum. Every cliff and sandbar, every geological and archaeological site deserves respect in my design,” Jean Nouvel shared.
“It is important that we preserve all the essence of ancient cultures and preserve their appeal to humanity. The mystery is something we need to protect, although sometimes it is also the promise of further exploration and understanding in the future,” he added.
Indeed, this luxurious underground resort is set in a setting of ancient ruins, containing the secrets of an ancient culture. Between the 2nd and 4th centuries BC, the cities between the Sinai Peninsula and the Arabian Peninsula were the Nabataeans. The Nabataeans who lived here developed a culture of sandstone carving.
From a distance, the Sharaan Hotel looks like other sandstone mountains, but at night the hotel will be lit up inside, creating a difference with the surrounding landscape. The hotel will include 40 luxury suites, 3 villas, a swimming pool, a restaurant and many other amenities.
The hotel’s main entrance lobby is a large circular courtyard carved into the sandstone hillside. From here, visitors are led to a series of guest rooms arranged around a central elevator shaft 80 meters high.
The hotel's restaurant is built on a 79-meter-high, sandstone rock formation, offering guests breathtaking views of the desert.
An open courtyard inside the hotel will be built for guests to gaze at the sky. Inside the rooms, Nouvel will create many light paths using both natural and artificial sources such as unique modern pattern designs.
Sharaan’s suites and luxury villas are carved into the cliffs as the Nabataeans did in ancient times, and each space has a balcony that takes in the most breathtaking views of the surrounding desert.
Each suite will feature Al-'Ula-style sandstone walls intended to create a strong link to the ancient Nabatean - Arab culture of the past.
“Sharaan does not endanger ancient values or humanity. Our project honors the Nabatean spirit without stylizing it. This creation is a logical and logical act of cultural continuity and preservation,” said Jean Nouvel.
The Sharaan resort is part of The Royal Commission's plans for the Al-'Ula Desert to encourage global tourism in the area. The future project is said to honor Saudi Arabia's heritage values.
Sharaan is called “the future of the resort hotel” by Jean Nouvel with its abstract and poetic space. He said that the sandstone structure of Al-'Ula is part of the special feature of the project.
“Al-'Ula deserves a modern approach while still retaining ancient values. Imagining the future will never end, requiring us to live fully in the present as well as always remember the past,” the French architect shared about the project's future direction. He and his colleagues have previously completed many service projects in the Middle East, typically the National Museum of Qatar, or Louvre Abu Dhabi in the UAE.
The Sharaan Hotel is expected to be completed and welcoming guests in 2024. The project is part of a 10-year agreement between France and Saudi Arabia signed in 2018 to develop Al-'Ula into a popular tourist destination.
