Shebara Resort | Killa Design

The future made real: this was what the studio Killa Design had in store for the biggest fans of innovation and immersion in nature when it brought Shebara to life. The eco-resort – which boasts its own solar farm and water desalination and treatment plant – exemplifies the encounter between visionary design and luxury. Located 25 kilometres off the coast of Saudi Arabia, the island is home to dense mangroves, desert flora, rolling sand dunes, turtle nesting grounds and coral reefs. Inspired by the natural formation of pearls in the sea and crafted from polished stainless steel, Shebara’s villas reflect and refract the sky and sea, appearing to dissolve into the horizon. These orbs cantilevered over the water give the impression of floating weightlessly.

Through the leading-edge interior design of the innovative Shebara Resort, Studio Paolo Ferrari tempers the sublime with the familiar

Floating atop turquoise, coral-laden waters, Shebara forms as a sinuous string of orb-shaped structures rendered in entirely reflective stainless steel. Surrounded by diverse ecosystems of dense mangroves, desert flora, white sand dunes, and sea grasses—of which little has been disturbed—the 73-key ultra luxury resort is a feat of architectural, technological, and sustainable advancement; a game changer in responsible tourism. The paradigm-shifting destination is only 45 minutes by boat from the especially remote yet ever-developing west coast of Saudi Arabia but appears to have come from another place and time.

Setting a new benchmark, the LEED-Platinum resort is powered by an onsite solar farm, equipped with a desalination plant, and supported by a circular waste management system that reduces the need for the transportation of materials to and from the outer island it occupies; significantly reducing operational carbon emissions. Developed by Red Sea Global, the self-sufficient destination is a forerunner of the Saudi Vision 2030 mandate; a government program which aims to incentivize economic, social, and cultural diversification all while respecting nature and heritage.

The prefabricated orbs—carefully cantilevering as aerial pods over the surrounding environment—encapsulate sprawling guest rooms with ample amenities and expansive private outdoor space defined by infinity pools and sunken sofas. Their mirror finished facades reflect the Red Sea below and take on a near-invisible quality. The holistic interior design of these 38 Overwater and 35 Beachfront Villa accommodations—carried out by Studio Paolo Ferrari—balances the enticement of the sublime, the discovery of something entirely new, with the familiar, the comfort and refinement of recognizable reference points, even if furnishings and finishes have been reconfigured to emphasize the holistic forward-looking atmosphere of these spaces.

“There’s often an expectation to design environments that have never been seen before,” says Paolo Ferrari, the firm’s founding principal. “Only focusing on that approach, however, one risks taking a project too far and making it alien. That impetus needs to be tempered by elements that are timeless.”

Reimagined but decipherable, custom furnishings like elongated sofas and curvilinear bed frames visually and programmatically anchor entirely nascent concepts. Either finished in stainless steel or high gloss wood, bar cabinets mount to the concave walls and come into their own as amorphous monoliths. It’s upon closer inspection and the automated activation of their hydraulic doors that their purpose is revealed. Meticulously layered crimson red leather or polished steel shelves become apparent. “They’re these mesmerizing and perplexing things,” Ferrari describes. “This is the invention in the room; the never-before-seen thing.”

Though especially nascent in form, these otherworldly objects were produced using highly specialized craft techniques. “In introducing something truly inceptive, we wanted to balance engineering with craftsmanship,” Ferrari expresses. “We wanted to recall the earth and ensure there were aspects that evoke the human hand. For us, it was about achieving an equilibrium between what is familiar and alluringly mystifying; the uncovering of something previously undefined.”

Though seemingly simple and contiguous, the orbs’ distinct contour posed a unique challenge when it came to the practice’s comprehensive scheme. Introducing all of the necessary components as well as those that defy convention required Studio Paolo Ferrari to devise an innovative design process. 

“The relationship between the interior architecture and furnishings, as well as finishes, was studied in detail. Headroom clearance, proximity to the curving walls and ceiling planes, and the compressed proportion on the perimeter was impossible to address strictly in plan and had to be fully explored in three dimensions.”

Because of these unique conditions, many of the elements of the guest rooms—those that might otherwise be taken for granted in another context—needed to be completely reconsidered, such is the approach Ferrari and his team often adopt when developing every aspect of a project but one that was taken to new heights here, formulated as a fresh strategy in ultra luxury design.

“Conceiving all elements through this fresh lens, we were able to respond to the complexity of the structure’s vessel-like dimensions with the precision engineering of everything from cantilevered circular bathroom mirrors suspended from the curving ceiling plane to the organically crafted solid oak and polished steel vanities taking pride of place in the Overwater Villas and Beach Royal Villa respectively,” Ferrari describes.

Other key interventions carefully toe the line between the distinguishable and enigmatic. These include the single form bed frames which seamlessly incorporate nightstands. In the Overwater Villas, they are cohesively finished in leather, polished steel, and mirrored glass. Elevated to the next level of refinement, the bed defining the Royal Villa’s principal suite is sumptuously rendered in carved onyx and nothing else.

Guests enter the seemingly ethereal orbs through somewhat unsuspecting apertures, only to uncover the full measure of the structures’ capaciousness once inside. The spaces unfold in-the-round before fully opening up to exterior patios and pools—apparent from floor-to-ceiling glass—that carve away at the continuously cocooning form of the orbs.

In the four-bedroom Royal Villa—programmed as two large scale intersecting orbs—guests are first greeted by the immeasurable-proportioning of the living lounge furnished with large lacquered wood base sofas curving together as a grounding evocation of a nest. A similar material profile—harkening back to the timelessness of skilled craftsmanship—reappears in the exterior shell of the cantilevered bar cabinet on axis with the to the living room. Richly encapsulated by an all-onyx wall and an adjoining front bar, this moment of monumental expression remains mesmerizing, if perplexing, at first glance. Cantilevered and seemingly weightless, the organic object changes temperament as its remote-controlled hydraulic doors unfurl and an all stainless steel-shelf interior is dramatically uncovered.

The high gloss lacquered wood adds warmth as does the bronze inlay of the leather clad walls delineating different rooms. Configured in a radial layout, the 900 square-meter  (close to 3000 square-feet) Royal Villa contains an oversized dining room and adjacent pantry; strategically enclosed media room; study; and three equally sized en-suite guest rooms. The colossal main suite occupies the entirety of the second volume and is defined by a sprawling bathroom illuminated by an overhead skylight. Here, a plethora of carved travertine components—a two-person bathtub—is cleverly complemented by sinuously formed occasional tables, and amoebic-shaped mirrors.

Challenging the convention of how bathroom design is commonly approached, the vanity here is another demonstration of sublime reinvention. Responding to the unparalleled conditions of the interior architecture, this cantilevered polished steel plinth follows the curved contour of the wall and balances off the floor with a softly aerodynamic pedestal. In conducive formulation, its two suspended ends taper before rounding off.

Though smaller, the one-bedroom Overwater Villas unfold with a similar sense of resplendence and seamless spatial distribution cleverly delineated by a series of cohesively introduced built-ins and freestanding furnishings. The expansive bedrooms center around cascading frames with incorporated nightstands—deftly finished in an interplay of leather and polished steel detailing. An open-plan bathroom extends off to the side where amorphous articulations of reflective material appear from different vantage points and in many cases, extend the luster of diffused natural light.

Leather-clad walls—with vertical and sinuous strips of bronze-inlay introducing a sense of visual modularity—closely contour the complex curve of the ceiling planes as they partition various rooms and encapsulate hidden elements like the bedroom-adjoining closet, outfitted with highly refined compartments.

Within the Overwater Villa living lounges, polished steel reappears in the base of organically formed armchairs as well as slightly amorphous but still decipherable standing lamps. The evocation of timeless craftsmanship and the handmade is apparent in the cast-glass pendants hung above wooden base and onyx-topped dining table as well as a joisted sofa, upholstered in linen.

Yet again, the defining element of these spaces are the cantilevered bar cabinets. Like the architecture of the orbs, these otherworldly objects are rendered in mirrored steel but don’t disappear into their surroundings as nebulous clouds. Even as they skew the reflection of the bronze inlaying of the surrounding walls, these monoliths retain their shape and, unsuspecting to guests on first impression, dramatically expose their crimson red leather interiors when their hydraulic doors unclasp.

“There’s something transcendent about the resort, taking us back to dream-like cinematic sequences,” Ferrari concludes. “We were tasked with creating something extremely forward looking and captivatingly enigmatic, but wanted to ensure the guest experience still felt crafted and natural.”

The holistic interior design of Shebara—extending the underlying ambitions of the trailblazing, solar powered resort as a whole—demonstrates the limitless potential of forward-looking ideation; what the future of ultra luxury resort design can become. It also demonstrates how that can be achieved through the deft expression of timeless materiality and inventive design.