THE SANYA EDITION  |  Sanya, China

This development is situated along the tropical coastline of Haitang Bay on Hainan Island. More than just a hotel, the 19.5 hectare site also accommodates privately owned villas, conference facilities, restaurants, swimming pools and other leisure amenities. These elements are organised around an impressive central water feature, the Private Ocean—a man-made lagoon separated from the South China Sea by the beach. Throughout the project, SCDA’s design explores different ways of linking the Ocean with the architecture. In front of the hotel building’s lobby, the Ocean Promenade steps up from the shore in a series of curved terraces, following the site’s topography, and creating a green amphitheatre. Smaller programmatic elements, such as the private villas and F&B outlets, are placed along a private beach, or hang directly above the Ocean’s waters; elsewhere, timber decks and private pools create a more gradual transition between indoors and outdoors.