Leyja | Adventure Hotel | OMA - Office for Metropolitan Architecture

70% of the Earth's land has been altered by human activity, with 40% already damaged
beyond repair. Things may not stop here. The more we transform the planet in the name of
comfort and security, the more we degrade it. And the more we degrade the planet, the more
we long for the Earth’s primordial state.
At its northern edge, the Red Sea bifurcates into two regions that were once similar but are
now profoundly different because of human intervention: the Gulf of Suez with its canal, one
of the world’s busiest transportation corridors, and the Gulf of Aqaba, which still preserves its
rich marine ecosystems. On Aqaba’s eastern coast, NEOM is inviting tourists to adventure
into its unspoiled mountainous landscape.
A narrow inlet, or wadi, reachable through a one-hour hike from the nearest road and three
kilometers away from the sea, is the site chosen by NEOM to unfold its tourism strategy for
the region. Our project is a balancing act between architecture and topography: 40 hotel rooms
suspended from the cliff with minimal contact to the rock, their shape and configuration forming
an abstract extension of the terrain’s natural lines. The volumes are purposely devoid of large
openings onto the landscape, encouraging the visitors to be in direct contact with their
surroundings.

Partner: Chris van Duijn
Associates: Wael Sleiman, Ravi Kamisetti, Kellen Huang
Team: Andre Backlund, Guiseppe Bandieramonte, Anna Bozek, Yip Fay Lau, Felica Gambino, Milyausha Garaeva, Joana Garcia Cidade, Benedetta Gatti, Yabia Guo, Marc Heumer, Kento Hirose, Tijmen Klone, Alicja Krzywinska, Alisa Kutsenko, Jonathan Ngo, Matvei Osipov, Fillippo Rispoli, Xaveer Roodbeen, Antonia Rubic, Koen Stockbroekx, Elizaveta Sudravskaya, Wesley Chun Ting She, John Thurtle, Ece Ulusoy, Suet Ying Yuen, Katty Yuemeng Zhao

COLLABORATORS
Ramboll
DGJ & Partners