DESIGN
Vommuli Island is a 45-minute flight by seaplane from the Maldives capital of Malé .
The exterior of the Library twists like a seashell . The Library ’ s interior
which opened in November 2016 . Everything to sustain life – non-island life – must be shipped , and visiting requires a 45-minute air trip from Malé , the capital . “ So that became the inspiration point for the design , to realize that actually this is very much the creation of an island paradise .”
Wong says putting half the buildings on stilts ( 43 over-water villas and a lavish “ estate ”) preserved about 80 % of existing vegetation . Building materials include timber and laminated wood , with smaller villas prefabricated in Malaysia and other structures imported from Austria and elsewhere . Concrete and steel were kept to a minimum to manage weight and the hefty costs of shipping materials thousands of miles .
BETWEEN PRIMITIVE , MODERN The design is a response to the two kinds of luxury
40 hotelsmag . com July-August 2017