Latest news with #OppenheimArchitecture
CairoScene
30-07-2025
- CairoScene
Oppenheim's Ayla Golf Clubhouse Emerges From Jordan's Desert Landscape
The Ayla Golf Club in Jordan features an 18-hole Greg Norman course and a sculptural clubhouse by Oppenheim Architecture, designed to echo the curves, tones and textures of the surrounding desert. In Aqaba, Jordan, where the raw topography of desert and mountain shapes every encounter, the Ayla Golf Clubhouse designed by Oppenheim Architecture emerges not as an imposition but as an elemental act of belonging. Here, architecture yields to landscape. The 13,000 sqft structure, at the heart of the Ayla Oasis mixed use resort development, invites neither spectacle nor nostalgia. Instead, it lands softly, its form and spirit shaped by the dunescapes and the ancestral memory of the Bedouin. This is not simply a signature for a leisure resort. It is the physical beginning of a 17s qmi urban vision, with residences, hotels and commerce all gathered around an 18-hole golf course designed by Greg Norman. Yet, despite the scale, Ayla's architecture stands in deliberate opposition to monumentality. In the Clubhouse and Golf Academy, retail and wellness, training and banqueting are enveloped, not by traditional walls, but under a single, continuous concrete shell. The line between inside and out blurs. The building does not occupy the land; it emerges from it. The shell's curves mimic the restless contours of shifting dunes; shotcrete, poured on-site, was selected not for convenience but so that construction itself could become a local craft. Early phases saw European architects and Jordanian workers collaborate, as workers were trained in shotcrete pouring techniques during the initial phases to empower them with specialised skills and a sense of ownership over the construction. A local artist, using traditional pigmentation, gave the interiors their tactile, unembellished surfaces. The horizon line of the golf course and the mineral palette of the Aqaba Mountains are visible through apertures softened with perforated corten steel screens. Triangular motifs drawn from Jordanian patterns allow sunlight to enter, filtered as through Mashrabiya, recalling privacy without resorting to separation. The building's shell wraps interior and exterior alike, spaces alternately retreating from and expanding toward the desert. The tone of the shotcrete and corten echoes the surrounding geology, avoiding contrast or adornment.
CairoScene
04-07-2025
- CairoScene
Desert Rock Resort is Carved Into the Hejaz Mountains of Saudi Arabia
Desert Rock by Oppenheim Architecture integrates architecture with the Saudi landscape, using stone and earth excavated on site to create a seamless, sustainable mountain resort. In the Hejaz Mountains of Saudi Arabia, Desert Rock Resort is not built on the landscape - it is etched into it. Designed by Oppenheim Architecture, with the interior concept developed by Paolo Ferrari, the resort is carved from the mountain itself, using stone and earth excavated on site for both structure and finish. The arrival experience is discreet and immersive. Guests enter through a secret valley, with the resort gradually revealed by the contours of the land. Desert Rock spans 30,000 square metres, with clusters of buildings scattered throughout a cloaked valley and nestled among rocky outcrops. Roads are hidden behind landscape mounds to preserve uninterrupted views, and minimise sound and light pollution. The architecture draws inspiration from the Nabataean civilisation, with the resort's design blending into its rugged surroundings and almost camouflaged within the landscape. Geometric forms and sharp edges define the architecture, balanced by pools and curved landscape elements. The resort comprises 48 villas and 12 hotel rooms, with some perched high above the landscape and others at ground level. Cliff-Hanging Villas feature recessed windows and elevated private pools, evoking the feeling of a secluded cavern. Mountain Cave Suites and Mountain Crevice Villas are carved into the plateau, with pools set on the edge of the stone crown. The accommodation offers views of the mountainous landscape, with each building shaped by the terrain and constructed using concrete made from aggregates sourced directly from the site. The interiors are finished with natural materials such as plaster, limestone, bronze, and wood. Custom-designed furnishings and fixtures are found throughout the resort, including details like sand-cast steel door knockers, integrated bed frames, and sunken sofas, all contributing to the character of the spaces. Excavated materials are repurposed into the project's infrastructure, reducing environmental impact. Native plants are used throughout the arid landscape, and passive cooling techniques lower the resort's overall energy consumption. Most materials are sourced or recycled from the site, further punctuating the resort's foundation in sustainability.
Vogue Arabia
14-05-2025
- Vogue Arabia
Rare Regality: Inside Saudi Arabia's Desert Rock Resort
I never imagined that I would one day find myself waking up inside a mountain, surrounded by the stillness of the Saudi desert, in a villa sculpted directly from the rock itself. Desert Rock Resort, part of Saudi Arabia's Red Sea Global project, is not just another high-end destination – it's a paradox. Here, amid the raw, untamed landscape, opulence is not imposed but embedded, seamlessly woven into the earth. Driving towards Desert Rock and venturing into the rocky terrain, I questioned whether I was really approaching a five-star resort. The usual grandeur of sweeping driveways and gilded lobbies was absent. Instead, I was greeted by towering rock formations and an entrance so discreet it nearly vanished into the terrain. It was a revelation – luxury here does not announce itself; it whispers. Designed by Oppenheim Architecture, the resort is a masterclass in minimalism. Its very essence respects the land it inhabits, and painstakingly blends into the surroundings that I barely noticed the structures at first. 'Rather than imposing architecture onto the terrain, we allowed the land to guide the design,' says Chad Oppenheim, founding principal of Oppenheim Architecture, who is the visionary behind other notable projects such as Ayla Golf Club in Aqaba, Jordan, and Besa Museum in Tirana, Albania. The resort does not seek to dominate its surroundings; instead, it invites you to dissolve into them. 'The idea was never to build 'on' the land, but rather 'with' it – sculpting spaces into the rock, allowing the natural topography to dictate forms,' Oppenheim notes. Photo: Desert Rock Resort
