PRECEDENT STUDIES

PRECEDENT STUDY: 03

3.3. JEAN NOUVEL’S SHARAAN RESORT

Jean Novel has unveiled his concept for The Sharaan Resort at AlUla – a scheme that draws on the nearby Nabataean wonders of Hegra, Saudi Arabia’s first UNESCO World Heritage Site. The landmark resort aims to celebrate the extraordinary beauty of past civilizations. French architect Jean Nouvel has unveiled the design for a subterranean hotel that will be carved into a sandstone hill in the AlUla desert in Saudi Arabia. (Jean Nouvel’s Sharaan Resort Concept at AlUlá, Saudi Arabia Celebrates the Beauty of Past Civilisations., 2021) The 2,000-year-old Sharaan Nature Reserve landscape holds markings and stories that unlock a past civilization. Nouvel does not take on this responsibility lightly, aiming to create architecture that showcases and preserves the beautiful and unique natural setting that unfolds around them. Sharaan by Jean Nouvel will contain 40 rooms and three resort villas that will be cut into a cliff face, with each suite having a balcony that looks out across the surrounding landscape. The hotel's entrance will be from a circular courtyard that will be carved into the sandstone hillside. From there a series of rooms will be arranged around a central 80-meter-high lift shaft.

3.3.1.

Nouvel is a French architect who won the Pritzker Prize in 2008. His studio has previously completed several buildings in the Middle East, including the Louvre Abu Dhabi in the United Arab Emirates and the National