Eco architect Bill Bensley on his wild Asian luxury resorts that challenge how hospitality is built
- American architect Bensley rarely fails to surprise with his sometimes wacky hotel ideas such as guests zip lining to reception and human ‘zoos’
- Known for talking clients down from ideas based purely on profit, he strives to build with minimal impact and wants travellers to also do their part
Imagine a zoo where humans are imprisoned while animals freely roam, peering at their every move.
The mind of hospitality “starchitect” Bill Bensley wandered to such fancies when a Chinese client asked him to create a resort in China’s southeastern Guangdong province on a 750-hectare (three-square-mile) land parcel that would include a sanctuary for animals rescued from around the world.
The client had specified he wanted a zoo for the site containing multiple hotels on the beachfront of Maoming, a city facing the South China Sea.
A lifelong environmentalist, 60-year-old Bensley hates zoos – especially after seeing the overcrowding and mistreatment common in Chinese zoos. So he decided to turn the idea on its head.
“I thought, ‘Let’s take this land and dedicate 95 per cent for animals to run free, and 5 per cent [as] jails for people.’”
The client laughed at the idea. Then he said: “Let’s do it.”
