Beauty & Wellness Resort

In 2023, SHP invited us to envision a new kind of beauty and wellness resort in El Gouna, the renowned Red Sea town created by Mr. Samih Sawiris of Orascom. Set within a landscape of lagoons, canals, and traditionally Egyptian inspired architecture, the project aims to combine holistic well‑being with world‑class medical expertise.

The brief called for a resort to be located on a 200,000 m² site and including 20 luxury villas, a 100‑room hotel, clinics, restaurants, pools, and extensive gardens. After a detailed site search, we identified a prime undeveloped parcel between the Mansions, Shedwan, and Cyan developments—offering lagoon access, future road connections, and a landmark position aligned with the El Gouna Conference Centre.

Our vision is a resort deeply rooted in nature and Egyptian heritage, avoiding the clinical feel of conventional wellness facilities. Inspired by the idea of discovering a hidden desert oasis, the design draws on El Gouna’s relationship with water and on Switzerland’s legacy of wellness, using natural elements as the foundation of the experience.

The architecture takes cues from traditional Egyptian dovecotes, whose perforated skins allow buildings to breathe. The hotel buildings adopt a similar double‑skin system for shade, cooling, and wind capture. To maintain a low, fluid character, the hotel is divided into three sculptural volumes. The villas are partially embedded in dune‑like forms, using earth insulation, wind towers, and evaporative cooling to create naturally comfortable interiors. Local materials, including site soil, reinforce the project’s connection to place.

The resort is conceived as an inward‑looking, carved‑out landscape—a sequence of terraced levels rising to dune peaks where the villas sit. A central gorge aligns with prevailing winds to maximise natural cooling and shade. At its heart lies a lush, intensively planted garden with a series of outdoor rooms for reflection and meditation, culminating in a shaded oasis where water cascades over rock formations. Each villa enjoys dual aspects: one toward the lagoon and private beach, the other toward the tranquil inner oasis.

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