Soaring over a transpicuous blue lagoon, Soneva Jani is driven by eco-friendly luxury. This water locked retreat created by the Soneva group might just be the perfect marine ecosystem, which celebrates habitability like never before.
The entrancing resort is a perfect contrast spreading over Noonu Atoll’s 5.6 km long turquoise lagoon along with five uninhabited islets adding character to Soneva’s fairytale. Based on a pristine oceanic living experience; Eva and Sonu Shivdasani’s Soneva Jani offers not just a resort living experience but also a chance to own these customizable ultra-luxurious overwater mansions.
The Design Philosophy | Soneva Jani Maldives
Just as the name suggests, Soneva Jani is a place of wisdom and new experiences, which works on the philosophy of Eco-chic luxury and slow living. It focuses on creating an experience inspired by nature in all of its beauty and magnitude to bring forth an occurrence, which is more than just the institutional identity of luxury retreats.
The design of Soneva Jani; just like other Soneva properties, celebrates luxury as a rarity. It is based on the vastness of the ocean and everything that it encompasses which is quite prevalent in the kind of materials they used, the décor, interior design schemes, activities and even the culinary delights.
The Interiors And Architecture
Eva Shivdasani led the Soneva creative team in collaboration with Habitat Architects to create Soneva Jani. The tranquil paradise is built on multiple wooden rafters holding smoothly rounded driftwood villas; bound together by a serpentine pathway. The Pathway is captivatingly designed to eschew the idea of straight lines and destinations where in the curves of the path allow the guests to become observers of every view at every angle.
The resort tops the list of exclusivity in the Maldives with only 24 water villas and one beach villa for the guests. However, more of these typologies are underway of construction while the other water and beach villas are for private sales. The Soneva Company has added a couple more water retreat homes to its roster, completing the resort’s second chapter.
The main construction material is the sea-bleached timber, which stands beautifully in contrast with the azure ocean. Coconut wood, recycled glass, pinewood, teak plantation wood for carpentry, bamboo, cedarwood, parasitic vines for their endurance and considerable weight, and other recycled and sustainable materials are utilised in the building and design.
The Gathering
Arriving from a seaplane; the first view of the resort is that of the Gathering. This is the heart of Soneva Jani and happens to be the tallest overwater structure in the Maldives. The 3 storey high establishment houses most of Soneva Jani’s restaurants, the holistic spa, multiple lounges, kids’ playroom, Soneva’s world-famous wine reserve, the chocolate and ice cream parlours and so much more.
The Gathering is nothing less than an architectural marvel with multiple stunning walkways, ramps and staircases connecting every zone. It even showcases an extravagant roof specially designed with 104,000 pieces of red river gum shingles, which is a delight for soaring eyes.
The resort’s design concept reaches its pinnacle when the main lounge is adorned with various sculptural ornamentations fashioned like jellyfish in the water, suspended in a magnificent clear height. In addition to this; there are numerous see-through glasses on the floor to sneak a view of the ocean beneath. The entirety of the place showcases a very lavish and serene aura while one sips a glass of wine sitting on an overwater daybed gauging the sunset.
The Villas
Soneva Jani defines luxury in the true sense. With a wide occupational range including 1 BHK water reserve villas to 4 BHK water reserve villas and even a beautiful island villa, Soneva Jani has it all. It carves exquisite water mansions with state of the art interior design and facilities. Every room has a 40 feet long pool to take laps in, a deck full of daybeds and nets to view the ocean from, a light cheese wall concept highlighting the importance of natural light. Apart from this, the villas are set in beautiful neutral tones with an occasional contrast of purple.
A very unique feature in all of the Soneva Jani villas is the presence of a retractable roof, right above the bedroom. This is a unique addition to the chic design, which enables a starry experience for all the guests. Every room has a personality and charm of its own, which becomes even more graceful as the sun sets. Every element of the interior is personally designed and handcrafted by Soneva’s creative team. This includes post beds made with coconut wood, sustainable desks made out of recycled wood.
The Medhufaru Island | Soneva Jani Maldives
The Soneva experience isn’t limited to just the overwater resort. What follows is a quintessential paradise full of lush green vegetation spreading across 150 acres of land on Medhufaru Island. The island hosts beachfront villas, multiple clubs and restaurants, the cinema Paradiso featuring a silent cinema, Many hidden beaches connected through a labyrinth of tropical pathways.
The island is also the house for all backhand services and residential quarters for nearly 100 people. Along with this it also hosts a tennis court and even a mosque!
Soneva Jani, like other Soneva properties, leaves no stone untouched in creating a gilded luxury excursion complete with beaches, water bodies, and a stylish living experience. Despite being one of the most costly resorts in the world, all of its facilities are worth every penny. The current era’s luxury experience, which is centred on Sustainable-Local-Organic-Wellness Learning-Inspiring-Fun-Experiences, is quite popularly referred to as the SLOW LIFE.
