Sofitel Legend Pyramids
Middle East & Africa
View Project
Hillside Art Retreat
- Location
- Saudi Arabia
- Client
- Confidential
- Services
- Architecture, Landscape Architecture
- Sector
- Hospitality
- Size
- 104 hectares
Coastal art retreat on Saudi Arabia’s Red Sea coast
The Hillside Art Retreat is a large-scale hospitality development on a steeply sloped coastal site in Saudi Arabia, for which Benoy developed the landscape masterplan across 1,040,000m2. The client’s ambition was to evoke the character of Portofino on the Italian Riviera while remaining rooted in Saudi vernacular traditions and the specific conditions of the Red Sea coast – a balance that shaped every aspect of the landscape strategy.
Synthesising two traditions
Designed with built form elements and materials common to both Italian coastal and Saudi architectural traditions, a unified sense of place draws authentically from each. The softscape palette reflects this same synthesis: Mediterranean and native plant species are combined to bring the quality and atmosphere of the Italian Riviera coastline to a Red Sea setting without abandoning the site’s indigenous character.
Terrain as infrastructure
The site’s dramatic topography was used strategically to conceal the development’s operational and logistical requirements. Service routes, back-of-house facilities, and vehicle infrastructure are sleeved into the steep terrain, leaving the core of the masterplan free for high-quality public realm. The waterfront is entirely car-free, with pedestrian access and a landscaped promenade as the primary experience of arrival at the shore.
