Soneva Kiri to collaborate with The Earth Awards (Thailand)
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Soneva Kiri to collaborate with The Earth Awards (Thailand)
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Category: Asia Pacific - Thailand
This is a press release selected by our editorial committee and published online for free on 2011-08-01
Soneva Kiri by Six Senses, an organisation that specialises in sustainable resorts worldwide, is proud to announce a collaboration with the 2011 Earth Awards’ as part of HRH Prince of Wales’ Start initiative. The Start event is being held in the gardens of Clarence House, London from 27-31st July 2011. A prototype of a Six Senses Eco Villa is one of the 5 unique installations at the festival. All 5 designs address the most pressing challenges the world faces today due to climate change, with immediately implementable ideas. The original Eco Villa was designed by one of Six Senses’ architects Louis Thompson. It is a prototype zero carbon emissions structure, showcasing a range of experimental environmental technologies incorporated into a bio-climatically designed villa made from locally sourced building materials.
The Eco Villa is being recreated at Start using materials indigenous to the UK, mainly sourced from the grounds of Lydney Park Estate in Gloucestershire, in order to demonstrate that the design is workable, regardless of location. Erected by a team of local craftsmen, the villa illustrates that it is possible to provide the same levels of service and comfort as found in more traditional five star luxury hotel accommodation, using modern building techniques and state of the art, renewable energy technology, combined with indigenous skills and knowledge.
The construction, landscaping and operation are all based on perma-culture design principals to ensure that waste is minimized or reused. The frame, creating the main structure, will be built out of chestnut poles. The walls will be straw bales and rendered with local clay, mud and lime mortar. The roof will be a garden of indigenous plants and the floor will be made out of local timber.
Sonu Shivdasani, Chairman and CEO of Six Senses Resorts & Spas said, ‘It’s an honour to have the Eco Villa selected for such a prestigious event. The Eco Villa is a naturally attractive design and to see it recreated in beautiful British surroundings, really shows how adaptable and versatile both the design and concept are. At Six Senses we constantly strive to develop pioneering designs, ones that can play a part in changing the world for the better in future years to come.’
The replica villa will then be relocated to Lydney Park Estate after the festival available for the public to see and where it will become home to permanent centre of learning about sustainable practices.
Six Senses has 15 resorts in Thailand, Vietnam, the Maldives, Oman and Jordan. Each is operated and run following Six Senses core principal of SLOW LIFE - sustainable, local, organic, wholesome, learning, inspiring, fun, experiences. The basic premise being that luxury and sustainability can be and is, a happy marriage.
Event background - In 2008 HRH The Prince of Wales initiated a new project designed to raise awareness about the consequences of Climate Change by presenting tangible solutions that everyone could begin easily integrating into their daily lives. In 2010 The Start Festival was held in the gardens of Marlborough House, Clarence House and Lancaster House to demonstrate the simple steps people can make to achieve a more sustainable lifestyle.
At the same time, a group of academics, environmentalists, and designers from all over the world were working on the same challenge but through the optic of how good design was a means towards creating a more sustainable future. An international competition was established to identify exemplars in sustainable design in six different categories: Built Environment, Product Design, Systems, Fashion, Social Justice & Future. This new initiative - “The Earth Awards” – was invited by HRH Prince of Wales to showcase the winning innovations.
Due to the resounding success of the first year’s exhibition and building on the complimentary objectives, HRH The Prince of Wales and The Earth Awards have decided to extend and expand their collaboration. From July 27 – July 31 a five-day Festival showcasing the best in sustainable living and design will be on exhibition in Clarence & Lancaster Houses as well as along the Mall. The event will be ticketed, but free for up to 10,000 guests.
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