Source:
https://scmp.com/magazines/style/luxury/article/3075026/whats-it-inside-worlds-first-3d-printed-luxury-resort-coast
Style/ Luxury

What’s it like inside the world’s first 3D-printed luxury resort off the coast of Mozambique, opening summer 2020?

Rates at Kisawa resort on Benguerra Island start at US$5,661 per night and it has all the food, wellness and adventure services visitors could want

Kisawa, a new luxury resort on Benguerra Island off the coast of Mozambique, will open in the summer of 2020. Photo: Kisawa Resort

Sustainability and preserving the local environment might be the next big thing in luxury travel.

Kisawa, a new resort on Benguerra Island off the coast of Mozambique, is betting visitors will pay up for high-end travel using 3D-printing technology to build with the local environment in mind. The resort, which will open in summer 2020, has every amenity imaginable: a dedicated staff, private chefs, food and beverage, wellness and spa, hotel activities such as diving and marine safari and electric vehicles and e-bikes to navigate the 750-acre property. 

The resort will have 12 private bungalows of one, two or three bedrooms, each on a private acre with its own beachfront. The one bedroom bungalows will start at €5,000 (US$5,661) per night.

Press releases from the resort emphasise that it will not be fully 3D-printed, but the technology allowing sand and salt water to be used as a building material is still innovative.

Although it will not be fully 3D-printed, the technology allowing sand and salt water to be used as a building material is still innovative. Photo: Getty Images
Although it will not be fully 3D-printed, the technology allowing sand and salt water to be used as a building material is still innovative. Photo: Getty Images

The resort is on Benguerra Island, the second-largest island on the Bazaruto Archipelago, which broke off from the African mainland thousands of years ago.

Kisawa was founded by Nina Flohr, a former executive at private jet charter company VistaJet. Photo: Getty Images
Kisawa was founded by Nina Flohr, a former executive at private jet charter company VistaJet. Photo: Getty Images

Kisawa was founded by Nina Flohr, a former executive at private jet charter company VistaJet.

Each Kisawa bungalow has a one-acre plot, complete with beachfront, a pool, outdoor kitchen and more.

Each Kisawa bungalow has a one-acre plot. Photo: Kisawa Resort
Each Kisawa bungalow has a one-acre plot. Photo: Kisawa Resort

According to Flohr’s Instagram, the resort has an on-site farm to grow food that will be served to guests.

The building materials for the resort are made from the island’s sand and salt water to make a sand-based mortar.

The mortar is used as the base material for the 3D printing technology to print construction elements including flooring, tiling and masonry.

Buildings will also incorporate weaving, carpentry, and textiles from inhabitants of Benguerra Island. Photo: Kisawa
Buildings will also incorporate weaving, carpentry, and textiles from inhabitants of Benguerra Island. Photo: Kisawa

Objects for the interiors of the 12 bungalows across the resort and their facades will be 3D printed, along with coral reefs and marine habitats.

Buildings will also incorporate weaving, carpentry and textiles from inhabitants of Benguerra Island.

Kisawa says the resort will add 1,000 local jobs, and will “carefully preserve the environment and local culture surrounding it”.

Benguerra Island is home to wildlife including flamingos, dolphins, and turtles. Kisawa will have a diving centre where guests can take marine safaris.

Benguerra Island is home to wildlife including flamingos, dolphins, and turtles. Photo: Kisawa
Benguerra Island is home to wildlife including flamingos, dolphins, and turtles. Photo: Kisawa

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This article originally appeared on Business Insider.