Contemporary Vacation Gallery

The Hyatt Regency Koh Samui by the office of Bangkok architects offers sublime views, while incorporating the indigenous natural features of this paradise isle.

- Pearlie Tan

Set in Surat Thani in the far north-east corner of the island of Koh Samui, the Hyatt Regency Koh Samui is a new resort destination in Thailand ready to welcome back international travellers.

Extending across eight acres of prime coastline, the 140-room project is a collaboration between three of Thailand’s biggest names in hotel design — The Office of Bangkok Architects (OBA), August Design Consultant, and P Landscape (PLA).

The concept is a contemporary “vacation gallery” that captures the spectacular visual highlights and legendary beauty of the idyllic island location from every part of the hotel.

This comes to the forefront in the showpiece lobby, which is a perforated white box that frames mesmerising oceanfront views and is part of the Gallery of Eight, a collection of especially photogenic sites within the resort.

“The plan was to come up with something different from other properties on Samui,” says Pongthep Sagulku, principal of August Design.

“Many of the resorts on Koh Samui either take inspiration from Thai architecture or go totally contemporary. We attempted to find a middle ground that was in no way a compromise.”

“We incorporated indigenous natural features, while the interiors carry nods to the ocean and local traditions. At the same time, it’s a highly contemporary project.”

LOCAL COLLABORATION AND NATIVE LANDSCAPE

Drawing upon the long-term synergy of knowing each other for more than 20 years, Sagulku and the principal of OBA Smith Obayawat worked together with landscape architecture studio PLA in a truly collaborative process.