HKS has unveiled its designs for Morocco’s Fairmont Taghazout Bay, the nearly two million-square-foot beachfront hotel slated to arrive in early 2019 as part of the 1,520-acre Taghazout Bay resort. Three touch points will be highlighted in the design to honor the region’s heritage, infusing it with a sense of place: memories of space through architecture, memories of space through landscape, and memories for tomorrow through guest experience.
“Our aim has been to create a destination that speaks of times gone by, buildings that become elegantly wrapped pieces of history, which linger in the mind,” explains HKS associate Alejandra de Cordoba Estepa.
Reflecting the semi-nomadic Imazighen people, simplified forms will draw influence from ancient north African culture, demonstrated across the property’s 155 guestrooms and suites and 52 waterfront villas. Native materials and colors have also been integrated to capture the synergy of both place and space. Such duality appears again as villa properties include one transparent side to boast sweeping panoramas while the opposite end is closed to provide intimacy and sanctuary.
Drama is further heightened with pavilions shrouded in white cloth that will stand atop stone podiums to recall the fixed dwellings of the Imazighen people. The hotel’s solid orthogonal shapes will greet guests as they approach the porte-cochère.
London-based Scape Design Associates crafted the rugged terrain, which emphasizes the connection between the buildings and nature. Guests will experience both place and space as one unified entity in a fashion that honors modern Agadir culture and the Morocco of tomorrow.
“Repeating history would be too straightforward,” adds HKS director of hospitality, architecture Luciano Mazza. “Our client challenged us to refine the age-old Imazighen cultural aesthetics into something modern for the younger generations of local Agadirens, not just well-traveled Moroccans who have seen the world. It is much more rewarding to create something new that celebrates the unique character of Agadir.”
