Alila Villas Soori - Bali

As some of Bali’s fabled beach towns start to resemble the wrong end of Ibiza in peak season, so developers have begun the search for virgin territory with the requisite infrastructure and cultural appeal.

When Singapore-based architect Chan Soo Khian bought a six-hectare plot on Bali’s rugged west coast five years ago, his intention was simply to build himself a private villa. Just an hour from the airport yet pleasantly isolated from the island’s booming tourist industry, this was ‘authentic’ Bali, where entire villages still dedicate themselves to cultivating rice, carving wood and sculpting stone rather than tourism.

As owner of his own architecture firm, SCDA Architects, Soo Khian applied the full weight of his experience to the project and before long had offers from associates interested in purchasing a villa of his design on the same plot.

The final master plan involved a total of 48 villas, all of which had been sold to investors before the two-year construction process began. Soo Khian then brought in the Asia-centric Alila Resorts brand to manage the property, giving them a fourth outpost on Bali to add to their pipeline in China, Laos, Maldives, Oman, Thailand and Vietnam.

Founded in 2001 by a group of ex-Aman Resorts stakeholders, Alila Villas Soori slides neatly into the group’s ultra-luxury villas portfolio.
SCDA came up with a sustainable design concept that engages with the local landscape and community, “that involved very early research into the site’s surrounds and environs as integrating local customs and practices was a top priority here”, says Soo Khian.

With three important religious temples nearby, General Manager Marco Groten admits, “We couldn’t just come and build anything we wanted, it had to adapt and fit in with its surroundings, whether it be a rice paddy’s irrigation channel or a regular religious ceremony”.

The built footprint was minimised to reduce environmental impact and electricity costs, the use of indigenous local plants reduced the need for irrigation, and over 50% of staff were sourced and trained from the local village.

A black sand beach, verdant rice paddies and slate grey tree-trunks common to the locality all inspired the resort’s core colour palette, helping it remain a harmonious, largely unobtrusive injection of modernity.

Similarly, the dividing lines between indoor and outdoor spaces within the resort itself are frequently ambiguous. With the communal areas terraced over multiple levels leading down towards the sea, it is the soft divisions between them that give an important sense of continuity, connectivity and flow.

Two small reading rooms, an Alila boutique and admin offices flank an upper level arrival courtyard that serves as both reception and lobby area. Laterally exposed to the elements it benefits from both natural ventilation and illumination, with shuttered screens above for shade from the midday sun. Sightlines are inevitably drawn towards the sea from here and a reflective pond in front of the lobby adds to this visual impact.

The pond is one of SCDA’s in-between spaces, functioning as a roof for the wellness centre beneath as well. Playing off their Asian heritage, Alila has a strong spa concept with a number of signature treatments and all-natural product ranges under the Spa Alila name. A petite yoga room and gym benefit from natural light and sea views while the spa itself is set back behind them – a dark, sultry space dominated by matte black walls, black marble and up-lit terracotta screens that play off traditional Balinese motifs.

Another level down, three dining areas are clustered around one centrally concealed kitchen. Cotto is the real workhorse serving the majority of guests at breakfast, lunch and dinner. Two long ten-seater wooden tables and a 4m wide, wall-mounted petrified wood cutting help break up the clinically clean lines and masculine colours of the double-height space.

Bali’s benevolent climate means protection from the occasional rain shower is all that’s needed so there are no solid walls or doors to pass through here, just a dark timber roof and screens above, thereby helping to maximise views of the pool area and beach beyond while also reducing electricity costs.

The bulk of the property’s room stock fans out from this F&B hub in a long line along the coast. Detached twin-storey villa units are divided into 15 upper level Ocean Pool Villas, and 15 lower level Beach Pool Villas. Looking back inland from the beach reveals that the build density here is fairly high, creating obvious privacy issues.

SCDA have tackled this for the Ocean Villas by using high dividing walls on both sides of the private bale and cantilevered plunge pool area. The pool wall itself becomes a feature made of locally sourced volcanic lava stones that add detail and an organic irregularity to the otherwise precise ‘modern Asian’ look. Landscaping was then called upon in both Ocean and Beach Villa layouts to help create a soft barrier for further seclusion, without blocking wind flow.

Each villa has full-height sliding doors leading out onto the pool at one end and a rear door leading to the leafy outdoor shower area at the other, meaning guests are constantly engaging with the elements from within their villas. Spacious double vanity bathrooms come with Toto fittings and generous ‘His & Her’ Spa Alila amenity kits, while smooth terrazzo walls and floors in various shades of greige are combined with custom-designed timber furniture and silk upholstery to create a serene interior mood throughout.

Finally, at the top end of the unit stock there are also a number of family villa units set back from the sea; eight three-bed, a five-bed and a still to be completed ten-bed megalith cater to those looking for inter-connecting rooms, greater seclusion and sublime views of what remains one of Bali’s most unexplored regions.

Alila Villas Soori
Banjar Dukuh, Desa Kelating,
Kerambitan, Tabanan, Bali 82161
Indonesia
Tel: +62 361 894 6388
www.alilahotels.com

Rooms 46 villas
Dining Cotta, Coast, Drift
Drinking Bar
Leisure Spa Alila
Facilities Infinity Pool, Beach Cabanas