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Rotterdam’s 24H-architecture’s designers indulge their inner child and their passion for the environment in the family friendly Den at Soneva Kiri.
By Mary Scoviak
If you need a little inspiration to start your week, check out the work of 24H-architecture. This Rotterdam-based firm has a mission statement that’s all about supporting the environment and creating beauty. It's not green as usual. There’s even a lingual learning curve with concepts like landshape (which refers to the shaping abilities of earth forces such as volcanos and ice) and things that are natrufied (“petrified pieces of earth that are changed into building materials.”) And, there’s lots of intriguing projects that show what happens when a gnarled tree branch gets extrapolated into a cabin or the architects get to really play with nature, as they did in one of their newest projects, the children’s activity and leisure center at Soneva Kiri by Six Senses in remote Koh Kood (Thailand).
Called The Den, the new kids’ center at this remote resort works so well because architect Olav Bruin and his team started by revisiting their childhood fantasies. Working with an over-ground bamboo framework, they built this children-only playland in the shape of a gigantic manta ray that hovers among the tree tops. Locally sourced bamboo had to be moulded into precise shapes without over-stressing the structure. With input from bamboo construction experts in Chiang Mai, Bruin and his staff erected an on-site steam oven to bend the long poles. At times, there were 15 architects on-site simply bending bamboo, he says. Bamboo shingles form the “skin” of this “creature,” helping it mesh with its arboreal surroundings. Children enter over a drawbridge that leads to an undulating stairway. Working with Six Senses founders Sonu and Eva Shivdasani on the interiors, Bruin established four dedicated “rooms” (Art, Music, Fashion and a library) within the free-flowing auditorium. Each is distinct and features various natural finishes such as river red gum and rattan, cloth with resin-adhered soil and texture derived from bamboo sawdust.
Although Six Senses has long been one of the most forward-looking clients in its environmental commitment, more companies are inviting designers to test the limits of eco-design—whether in tree houses like those showcased in Hospitality Style’s Fall 2010 issue or the green design like the silver mine cavern repurposed as a suite in our Spring 2011 edition. Given the success of these intriguing projects, hopefully more owners and investors will see the bottom line benefits of allowing designers and architects to be imaginative or even provocative. And more guests won’t be left wishing they could downsize themselves to play in The Den.
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