Bumi Kinar is a complex of eight one-bedroom villas, two suites, and a super club house that contains a dining and lounge area, a health and spa club, a multi-purpose outdoor cliff terrace, a hanging sunset verandah, and an infinity swimming pool. It is situated in the Ubud cliffside forest, which is famous as a serene and tranquil leisure destination in Bali.
The project is located on a longitudinal shape of hilly terrain, bordered by the Petanu River, and overlooking the serene Ubud’s forest across the site.
It is designed in conjunction with two existing four-bedroom villas and one main traditional verandah villa, which will act as a starting point for guests to begin their journey. These existing compounds called Bumi Sekembang, are located on the higher terrain and separated by a small natural creek and local access road, with the latest Bumi Kinar project.
Taking inspiration from a lotus leaf, the architecture language generates a gentle curvy line to express the light and gentleness of its silhouette. The lotus leaf is a metaphor for a purification process, as it rises from the mud without stains and collects the pure morning mist on its surface. This symbolic meaning gives a figurative message about the Bumi Kinar as an international retreat and healing resort destination.
The journey experience started from an existing main verandah villa at Bumi Sekembang, where guests can see a glimpse of the Bumi Kinar compound underneath a series of parallel curve walls finished with dark-toned local mountain stone. This main verandah building was added with a new stair and curvilinear pathway, descending to the Bumi Kinar location.
After crossing the local small road, guests will be welcomed by the gallery foyer at the Bumi Kinar compound. The gallery foyer is a longitudinally enclosed space formed by two series of reversed curve walls. It is a place where someone gets to stop, zipping a welcome drink, while enjoying a view of the tropical garden, located on both ends of a space. It also acts as an art exhibition and creative space where people can meet and exchange ideas.
From this place, guests will arrive at a serene courtyard, where there are hidden accesses to the North and South Wing Suites.
Journey continue to the big, outdoor, elliptical, reflecting pond, which is the heart of this main building. The water surface was designed to mirror the view to a serene, hilly forest, across. An elliptical, covered, wooden finished floor, located at one side, oriented to the view of Mount Agung at a distance, creates a serene, covered, semi-outdoor, multi-purpose space.
From here, guests will descend a curving outdoor staircase that leads to a crescent-shaped dining and lounge room, next to an infinity swimming pool, overlooking a hilly forest. The spa area is located at one level below, sandwiched between a cliffside on one side and a forest hill. The existing mature trees were retained and became part of a design parameter when we configured the master plan. New green elements were carefully added and informed by the surrounding landscape archetypal in order to bring back an existing ecosystem within the site.
Descending a curved staircase, guests are greeted by a crescent-shaped dining and lounge area, overlooking an infinity pool and the verdant forest beyond. The spa area, nestled between cliffside and forest hill, beckons relaxation and rejuvenation.
Carefully integrated into the natural landscape, the villas are positioned to minimize environmental impact, connected by a floating rampway doubling as a jogging track and viewing platform. Embracing sustainable design, the structures hover above the terrain, preserving the ecosystem below, while porous lava stone and green roofs provide insulation from the tropical sun.
The eight villas are oriented and located according to their terrain conditions to minimise environmental disturbance and alteratAll the villas are connected by a 600-metre, gently curving, floating rampway, which acts as a jogging track and viewing platform as well.
The structural system of the building in Bumi Kinar was designed to float above existing terrain to minimise cut and fill work. By doing this, we retain an existing ecosystem within an environment while creating a breathable space underneath to lower the temperature inside the building. The flat roof was finished with a reddish, porous, lava stone and green roof, creating heat insulation from tropical sunlight in the room underneath. The overhang curve canopy and recessed building skin are strategies to give shade to an inside room.
The minimalistic and modern architecture with a light and darker shade of grey, juxtaposed with the lush tropical forest of the Ubud area, creates a new and poetic architectural language for a retreat and healing resort.
