Fari Islands is a resort destination located in the Maldives featuring a purpose-reclaimed, four-island, 582-hectare lagoon. While the project is an up-market development charging some of the highest tariffs in the Maldives, it was chosen for an award not for its luxury features but for the template it creates for high levels of sustainability – in terms of its architecture, recyclability, reef preservation and regeneration, and a focus on local community, education, and engagement. As one juror described it, the resort is a “celebration of natural simplicity and good design at a manageable scale”.

Opened in mid-2021, the resort has a total of 80,000 square metres of building space covering some 12 percent of the site.

Among its notable features:

• As a purpose-built development, the project is able to leverage benefits of scale, featuring three separate resorts located on multiple islands – in contrast to the Maldives’ normal single-island, single-resort model.
• The islands were constructed using techniques that leverage natural sedimentary processes of the oceans. They are one meter higher than normal and feature a number of engineering safeguards that aim to protect them against sea-level rises caused by climate change.
• Use of a sustainable Mass Engineered Timbre prefabrication process cut energy consumed by about 12 percent and reduced construction time from three years to two. Having studied the resort’s approach to construction, the Maldives government is set to change its policies for future resort development practices.

• A mix of permeable, minimalistic, and biophilic architecture.
• A commitment to recyclability. Onsite incinerators and biodigesters help reduce export of waste to centralised garbage disposal facilities, while grey water is sued for landscaping. The resort also bought and relocated to the resort some 20,000 mature trees been cleared from other Maldives islands to make way for community development.
• A programme to protect and propagate local coral reefs and other ocean life.
• Renewable energy use is a prime objective. The islands currently feature one of the largest solar installations in the Maldives (ie, more than 2 MW), accounting for about 15 percent of total energy consumption. When installation is complete in 2030, solar will satisfy around 50 percent of projected energy consumption. Management is now studying how to integrate site-specific renewable energy options such as vertical wind turbines, tidal shallow, and deep ocean thermal energy to find the most efficient mix of renewable energy types. The ultimate aim is to achieve zero-carbon status (without offsets) over time.
• An entire island has been set aside for use by staff, with good quality housing and extensive recreational facilities. This is partly to provide an appealing environment for workers who might remain physically at the resort for years at a time. In addition, the staff island’s extensive facilities allow it to be used as a forum for events for workers from other islands, ranging from football tournaments to professionally managed training programmes providing vocational hospitality qualifications.

• An arts programme that includes a rotating artist in residence and a permanent gallery. The idea is not simply to provide an interesting experience for resort guests, but also to educate established artists about environmental issues so they can become ambassadors through their own work.

View all thirteen winners for the 2022 ULI Asia Pacific Awards for Excellence.