Tag Archives: resort

These Nest-Like Pods Show Prefab Architecture Doesn’t Have To Look Prefab

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Nestled within China’s Senbo Amusement Parks, a new architectural vision is taking root. The Forest Nests Treepod Project by Doarchiwow challenges everything we thought we knew about modular construction, transforming prefabricated building into an art form that breathes with its surroundings. These aren’t your childhood treehouses. Each dwelling rises from the landscape like a sculptural organism, its steel skeleton wrapped in layers of wood shingles, weathering steel, aluminum, and glass.

The genius lies in how these materials work together, creating structures that feel less constructed and more cultivated. They could be oversized cocoons suspended in time or nests woven by some mythical creature. What they don’t look like are typical modular buildings, and that’s entirely the point. Doarchiwow, a subsidiary of DO Architects specializing in high-quality prefabricated systems, spent years developing this concept. Design work began in 2021, with the 441.92-square-meter project finally completing in 2025 across two locations in Rizhao, Shandong and Wuhan, Hubei.

Designer: Doarchiwow

Step inside and the experience shifts. Smart home systems and digital networks handle the technical side while floor-to-ceiling glass opens up views of the canopy. The interior curves follow those same organic lines from the exterior. It’s surprisingly spacious for a micro-living unit. Doarchiwow was trying to solve a tricky problem here: how do you mass-produce something that still feels custom? The standardized shell allows for efficient construction, but the spaces inside feel tailored. The pods work as individual retreats while functioning as part of a larger network.

The sustainability angle goes deeper than surface-level green building tactics. Tang Jiajia, Wang Wenrui, and Jiang Hong led a design team that built a three-part environmental strategy into the project. Passive design, active environmental tech, and construction methods that respond to microclimate conditions. Prefabrication keeps ground disturbance minimal. Material waste drops. On-site labor requirements shrink. Each pod essentially runs as its own environmental system, capable of adjusting to different settings and weather patterns.

That adaptability matters because this model could theoretically pop up anywhere. Urban green spaces, protected natural areas, coastal zones, mountain forests. The fluid shapes refuse to look out of place, which is rare for modular buildings. Most prefab structures announce themselves loudly. These ones settle in quietly. It’s a replicable approach that doesn’t require starting from scratch each time.

Doarchiwow seems interested in changing how we think about vacation spaces and construction methods at the same time. They’re targeting boutique resorts, high-end campsites, rural tourism markets. Forest Nests makes the case that prefab doesn’t mean compromising on design or environmental responsibility. You can have efficiency and beauty. The structures prove it’s possible to build quickly without bulldozing the site or creating eyesores. Whether this becomes a widespread model remains to be seen, but it’s a compelling direction for sustainable resort development.

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NEOM Siranna resort hotel looks like a fantasy castle carved from a mountainside

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When people speak of hotels, they probably think of towering buildings in the middle of cities or near beaches and tourist hot spots. Few will probably imagine one built on desert landscapes, surrounded by imposing mountains on one end and a sea on the other. They probably wouldn’t even be able to imagine how the hotel would be composed of towering spires that seem to be made from the very same rock as the mountains. That combination of elements, however, is exactly what NEOM’s latest ambitious project is proposing, creating a picturesque tourism escape that resembles fantasy or sci-fi fortresses built from mountains, which is actually also the blueprint for this hotel and residence dream.

Designer: NEOM

Imagine riding a boat across a sea and gazing at an imposing mountain range across the horizon. As you near the coast, you notice what seem to be stone pillars rising from the ground, their shadows during the day and lights at night casting an almost otherworldly atmosphere around them. This majestic view is actually your destination, and that’s the kind of adventure that the Siranna is meant to offer, a break from the hustle and bustle of everyday life and a journey into an ultra-luxurious and dreamy location where sea, mountains, and wadi intersect.

To be built on the Gulf of Aqaba coastline in Saudi Arabia, the Siranna is a complex that will be home to a 65-key hotel and 35 exclusive residences that promise top-of-the-line resort amenities, from beach clubs to spas to wellness facilities. Despite the seemingly dry environment, the experience will also include outdoor adventures, whether on foot or on horseback, to explore the awe-inspiring landscapes that surround this man-made structure. Even the way you get to Siranna will be a breathtaking journey that starts with a boat ride to a secluded bay and then a trek through the mountain’s natural rock formations before finally reaching the property.

The design of the architecture is quite unique and distinctive, with hexagonal pillars that make up both the vertical buildings as well as horizontal spaces. The towers have a single window that runs through the height of the pillar, resulting in a rather striking vertical pattern of lights at night. If you’ve ever seen fictional cities or castles built on the side of mountains, this rather unusual space definitely fits the bill.

Just as unusual as its design is the actual construction of Siranna, intended to support sustainable living and conservation at the same time. The hotel is almost literally carved into the mountainside, allowing it to seamlessly blend with its surroundings while also minimizing intervention in nature and preserving the surrounding landscape. In an age where skyscrapers are eating up the land and blocking the skies for the sake of human convenience, the NEOM Siranna represents an escape not only from the mundane but also from the devastation we inflict on the planet.

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NEOM coastal resort and hotel concept looks straight out of a sci-fi movie

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High-rise buildings seem to be the trending design in architecture, but some visionaries plan to take that to the extreme. Concepts and even actual construction of buildings seem to defy logic and physics in order to create a striking skyline that will be remembered for centuries. With their riches and resources, countries such as the United Arab Emirates and Saudi Arabia seem to be in a race to erect towering structures that will provide not only shelter but also the ultimate luxury, unlocking vistas that would be unimaginable by current standards. The latest dream to be revealed would take root on the Gulf of Aqaba in northwestern Saudi Arabia, where not just one or even two but three towers will rise like sharp needles that pierce the heavens to offer a lavish escape from the stresses of the future.

Designer: NEOM

The Gulf of Aqaba, which forms one of the northern tips of the Red Sea, paints quite a dramatic picture because of the marriage of two geographical extremes: a coastal strip and a desert plain. Erecting skyscrapers would mar this picturesque scenery, but having just two creates an even more striking effect, like alien obelisks rising from the sands to act as portals to other worlds. It is perhaps not by coincidence that NEOM describes the Epicon as a gateway to the future, particularly the future of hotel and resort tourism for the region.

The main structure of the hotel concept is two asymmetrical towers, one 275 meters (902 feet) in height, the other only 225 meters (739 feet). The 41 key hotel and luxury residences comprise 14 suites and apartments and the two towers are connected by an elevated platform with exposed structural beams. In fact, the entire design of the Epicon towers has this industrial aesthetic from a distance, enhancing the mystique of the structure and creating a distinctive skyline that easily promotes the resort by itself.

This key motif is also employed in the Epicon resort that lines up the coastal shore, featuring 120 rooms and 45 residential beach villas. The single tower mirrors the twin hotel skyscrapers on a smaller scale, creating a play on perspective that serves to magnify the imposing presence of the twin towers. The distance between these two amenities generates an atmosphere of adventure and travel when going from one location to the other as if journeying between different worlds connected by a common vision and culture.

This otherworldly theme is especially evident at night when those structural beams are illuminated to create a visual not unlike futuristic towers from science fiction. It’s designed to invoke feelings of awe, wonder, and curiosity, inviting people from all walks of life to lose themselves in a luxurious experience away from the mind-numbing routines of daily life. The resort and hotel may be envisioned to offer first-class experiences and world-class service when it finally opens its doors, but Epicon’s design alone already entices visitors with epic moments of luxury, peace, and inspiration.

The post NEOM coastal resort and hotel concept looks straight out of a sci-fi movie first appeared on Yanko Design.