Category
Architecture
typology
Leisure / Hospitality
client
NEOM
area
Saudi Arabia
year
2019
dimensions
47.000 sqm
status
Project

The Ice Resort offers suites integrated into the island's natural landscape, featuring breathtaking sea views, luxurious amenities, and exclusive royal accommodations. 

Only a few frozen blocks interrupt the island's natural landscape, resembling gems or translucent minerals, or perhaps objects dropped from space. This juxtaposition evokes a sense of awareness through loss or contrast: the dreamlike modernity and uncertain geometric materiality of these blocks starkly contrast with the island's rugged rocky surface, prompting a deep appreciation for its pristine nature, sun, sea, and profound identity.
Horizontal slits on the island offer glimpses of the world created beneath. The suites, discreetly hidden within the rocks, open out to breathtaking sea views. To the east, they are nestled near the beach on promontories or coves, featuring terraces, swimming pools, and private piers. To the west, they perch high on the ridge, offering extraordinary horizon views. Fractures and excavations in the rock will be adorned with vegetation, pools, and shaded spaces.
The connection with nature through light, the scent of the sea, and cool marine breezes is profound, yet privacy is assured with covered areas that protect against excessive light and heat. Guests arrive by small boats from the south pier to a service center housed under a large cube structure. Only small electric vehicles, reminiscent of golf carts, traverse the island.
An equipped beach, spa with swimming pools, and wellness center are nearby, along with restaurants of various types and sizes, all facing the sea and sunset. There is also an entertainment center with facilities for movies and discos. The highest and most panoramic area, connected to the western lagoon, is reserved for the royal family and includes its own helipad.
The structure is elegantly arranged along the rocky slope in direct relation to the sea, descending to the beach exclusively for the royal family. Some suites are distributed atop the southwest cliff, directly overlooking the sea with breathtaking views, accessible via an underground path that partially opens to green courtyards and skylights.