Story | 陳菁 Photography | Dook Photography
Looking at Sossusvlei Desert Lodge from afar, one might think the heat is playing tricks on you, its red bricks blending in with the colour of the sand dunes. However, when seen from an aerial perspective, the geometry of its architecture is apparent. Curved walls mimic the wavy lines of the surrounding dunes, creating a balance between man-made and natural beauty.
Located on a 130 sq. km. expanse deep in the Namib, the world’s oldest living desert, the lodge is a collaboration between the South African architecture firm Fox Browne Creative and architect Jack Alexander. They wanted to create a place where guests can be at one with nature, while minimizing the lodge’s impact on the desert, which has been around for an estimated 80 million years. In fact, it is listed as a World Heritage site for its geological significance and endangered wildlife.
The Namib Desert is a listed World Heritage site.
The lodge has only 10 stone-and-glass guest suites. The full-length glass windows offer 180-degree endless views of pitch darkness at night, which by day transform into scenes of blue sky and yellow sand.
Enjoy the night sky without light interference through the skylight window.
At dusk, the wooden terrace opens up to serve a delightful dinner, while an astronomer tells stories about the stars. Guests then retire to their suites and continue their star-gazing through a skylight window.
The wooden terrace is the public space for guests.
Solar panels cover the roof of the buildings and energy is also recovered from air-conditioning and waste water recycling. In an environment where the mercury can exceed 50 degrees Celsius, these solar panels double as a means of heat protection.
The electricity collected from solar panels allows the hotel to be self-sufficient.
The driftwood sculpture in the interior greets guests with a touch of harmony between the indoors and the desert outside. Whether it is the Welwitschia, which is aptly named in Chinese as thousand-year-old orchid, or other desert flora and fauna, they have worked out a way of surviving the harsh desert.
The resort’s amenities include a sunrise-view gym and sunset-facing wellness centre, which offers both a treatment room with a private spabath and a separate wet-room spa. The lodge’s Signature Shop showcases Namibia’s finest craft offerings.
Swimming in a water-scarce desert, framed by red sand dunes, seems surreal.
Daily rates, including three meals a day, wine and spirits, range from $790 to $1,270, depending on the season.
As time goes on, while humans continue to build on and take from nature, the willingness to take environment into consideration and use technology to support the notion, is refreshing. For further details, visit: andbeyond.com.
