I R I R I K I I S L A N D R E S O R T
Vanuatu’s cherished island retreat, Iririki Island Resort & Spa, stands as the premier holiday destination in Vanuatu, nestled amidst the breathtaking tropical landscapes of Port Vila Harbour and Mele Bay. A mere 3-minute ferry ride from Port Vila, Iririki Island Resort & Spa strikes a harmonious balance between serene seclusion and convenience.
With a plethora of activities both on and around the island, Iririki Island Resort & Spa invites guests to engage in numerous enjoyable pursuits in Vanuatu. Immerse yourself in the vibrant marine life through swimming and snorkeling or participate in Iririki Island and Vanuatu tours.
This project, designed by the Jeghier Architect team in 2018, involved rejuvenating the long-operating Iririki Island Resort. Our task was to create a new design, incorporating additional resort rooms, a casino, a convention hall, and development for a water resort. Given the vast expanse of the island and the absence of a power supply, we implemented a solar panel farm to meet the resort's electricity needs. After extensive discussions with the hotel team and the client, the initial development proposal for this resort was accepted with the presented design.
Designing presented numerous challenges, including the difficulty in sourcing local materials suitable for the resort's design, resulting in the importation of several materials, including stones, from other countries.
The beauty of its beaches rivals those of other tourist destinations, making Iririki Island Resort one of the top destinations on the island.
We will share our resort design process, commencing with the initial idea, using this project as a sample. This design process employs the Design Thinking methodology by Robert A. Curedale, consisting of 9 thinking stages as follows:
Design Thinking Process:
Inspiration: The initial stage involves exploration and data collection for subsequent analysis and processing.
Understand: Gathering data and information to establish the design background, formulate design problems, and set design goals. Additionally, conducting literature studies on Iririki Island, resort design requirements, and Iririki's local cultural values based on geographical and environmental aspects.
Observe: Conducting on-site studies, multiple visits to the location, meetings with clients and the operating team, observing the design object's environment, collecting necessary data for design, identifying existing issues, and obtaining data from similar objects for typological comparisons and design inspiration.
Point of View: Analyzing and processing the obtained data and issues to create a program, including analyzing the exterior and interior of the building site, user space needs and activities, space dimensions, spatial relationship patterns, zoning, grouping, circulation, and defining areas to be designed to better understand user space needs and issues.
Ideation: Building on inspiration, this stage involves structuring problems to find design solutions through concepts and alternative sketches.
Ideate: Determining design concepts, brainstorming ideas, and creating alternative design ideas that address existing needs and problems through layout and alternative sketches.
Prototype: Determining the best design and creating the final design product in the form of 3D modeling, working drawings, perspectives, and models as the implementation of the design.