Firm： Chapman Taylor Architects

Type： Hospitality + Sport › Hotel Wellness/Spa Landscape + Planning › Urban Green Space Masterplan

STATUS： Concept

SIZE： 1,000,000 +

The new Xuan Khanh Lake ecological tourism and Buddhist spiritualism destination creates a convenient location for weekend relaxation, lakeside living and meditation in nature for visitors from the city and beyond.

Xuan Khanh Lake is located in Son Tay, a provincial town on the outskirts of the Vietnamese capital. Son Tay is known for its thousand-year-old heritage village and a laterite brick temple. Xuan Khanh Lake has recently also become well-known for the discovery of an almost extinct animal – the Yangtze giant soft-shell turtle.

The new resort will comprise several hotel and residential elements, including a luxury eco-hotel, a lakeside resort, a wellness resort, a spiritual retreat and hilltop and “floating” villas.

The main focus of the resort will be to host functions for mind, body and spirit rejuvenation, catering to Zen spiritual tourists as well as general visitors. The lakeside destination dedicates special areas to meditation and Zen spiritual training and activity courses, with a school, an events and conferences auditorium, a yoga park area and accommodation for spiritual leaders, experts and students.

The project will retain and protect the natural resources on site, using them to create activities and functions for visitors and local residents. There will be areas dedicated specifically to organic agriculture, with learning and research centres relating to the cultivation of organic products, which will serve the restaurants, hotels and residents in the area.

The innovative Xuan Khanh Lake concept will help economically transform the area and promote it as a model of sustainable and natural living.