Ghazala Bay, North Coast, Egypt · Coastal resort · 2022 — 2023 · Alchemy Design Studio (for LMD)

Zoya Ghazala Bay

Whitewashed volumes under floating roofs, screened terraces and shaded courts around a lagoon: one language for a boutique hotel, its cabins and three residential types.

Location: Ghazala Bay, North Coast, Egypt
Year: 2022 — 2023
Sector: Hospitality / Residential
Scope: Concept to IFC
Status: Under development — first phases delivered
Role: Senior Design Architect — design lead under the Design Director

The project

Zoya takes its name from the Greek zoē, life, and the brief was to make a 134-acre shoreline feel like one place rather than a catalogue of unit types. The look and feel was set first — plaster, timber screens, floating roofs, water always within reach — and then carried into the architecture of the Rituals Hotel cabins and main building, the villas, the townhouses and the beach cabanas.

Each type was kept compact so terraces, not corridors, take the frontage, and every cluster is placed to keep a line of sight to the lagoon or the sea. The cabins and main building were modelled in Revit so the schematic set could go straight to coordination; the first phases are now built.

Aerial photograph of the built phases

Zoya Ghazala Bay — The lagoon and chalets, built — The lagoon and chalets, built

Zoya Ghazala Bay — The lagoon at the heart of the first phase — The lagoon at the heart of the first phase

Lagoon-side planting and terraces

Zoya Ghazala Bay — Villa entrance under the floating roof — Villa entrance under the floating roof

Zoya Ghazala Bay — Beach and cabanas from the air — Beach and cabanas from the air

Zoya Ghazala Bay — Beach umbrellas from the air — Beach umbrellas from the air

Zoya Ghazala Bay — Rituals Hotel cabins on the lagoon — render — Rituals Hotel cabins on the lagoon — render

Zoya Ghazala Bay — Rituals Hotel — the curved canopy — Rituals Hotel — the curved canopy

Zoya Ghazala Bay — Rituals Hotel — lagoon pool — Rituals Hotel — lagoon pool

Rituals Hotel — main building from the road

Zoya Ghazala Bay — Main building — elevation — Main building — elevation

Zoya Ghazala Bay — Main building on the lagoon front — Main building on the lagoon front

Zoya Ghazala Bay — Villa — curved roof over the terrace — Villa — curved roof over the terrace

Zoya Ghazala Bay — Villa from the lawn — Villa from the lawn

Zoya Ghazala Bay — Villa pool terrace — Villa pool terrace

Villa elevation

“Every cluster keeps a line of sight to water.”

Zoya Ghazala Bay — Villa pool at dusk — Villa pool at dusk

Zoya Ghazala Bay — Beach cabanas around the lagoon — Beach cabanas around the lagoon

Zoya Ghazala Bay — Cabana row on the sand — Cabana row on the sand

Zoya Ghazala Bay — Cabana with its tower — Cabana with its tower

Zoya Ghazala Bay — Cabana — curved roof — Cabana — curved roof

Zoya Ghazala Bay — Cabana front — Cabana front

Cabanas at night on the lagoon

Zoya Ghazala Bay — Cabana tower at night — Cabana tower at night

Process

Plans from the schematic set — the cabana clusters on the lagoon, the Rituals Hotel cabin cluster and single cabin, the beach cabin, the one-storey villa and the townhouse rows — each type kept compact so terraces, not corridors, take the frontage.

Cabanas — site plan around the lagoon
Cabanas — cluster layouts
Rituals Hotel — cabin cluster plan
Rituals Hotel — single cabin, ground floor
Beach cabin A — plans
One-storey villa — plan
Townhouses — ground floor plans

What I did

Led the design from concept through IFC under the design director
Set the look and feel and carried it into the Rituals Hotel cabins and main building, villas, townhouses and beach cabanas
Kept each type compact so terraces, not corridors, take the frontage
Modelled the cabins and main building in Revit so the schematic set went straight to coordination

Colophon

Location: Ghazala Bay, North Coast, Egypt
Year: 2022 — 2023
Sector: Hospitality / Residential
Typology: Coastal resort
Scope: Concept to IFC
Status: Under development — first phases delivered
Role: Senior Design Architect — design lead under the Design Director
Client: LMD
Site Area: 134 acres
Components: Rituals Hotel cabins & main building, villas, townhouses, beach cabanas
Software: Revit, AutoCAD, Adobe CC