Habari Za Asunuhi - Designing an Eco-resort on Pemba Island

Abstract The awareness of the need for sustainable solutions has been increasingly growing and so is the concern of this matter for architecture. While the goal is that sustainability becomes progressively more popular and available for all, ecological solutions are still to be discovered and improved, and nowadays green materials add extra costs to an architectural project. Given this, this dissertation focuses on sustainability for the luxury market, more specifically on eco resorts in tropical countries. This thesis shows that, although this kind of hotel has an audience with a high purchasing power, the locations in which they are constructed and the communities that they involve are mostly underdeveloped. These coastal developments affect several spheres of the hosting area, and depending on how they are realized and managed, the impacts may be of a positive or negative nature. Environmental impact is seldom a concern when building in the tropics or endangered area and there is little discussion regarding this matter in the architectural debate. On the other hand, if well conducted, these endeavours may not only improve, protect and restore locations at risk but also benefit their social development, infrastructure advancement, jobs creation and economic growth. The main objective of this dissertation is to present a design of an eco resort ideal for tropical countries in terms of sustainability. With the support of PAT architecture studio, which designs dwellings, including in African countries, the eco resort here presented was created for a property of 9.6 acre with 420 meters of beachfront located in Pemba Island, Tanzania. The project also intended to study the complete process of designing a sustainable hotel in such environments with similar climates, geographies, lands, resources and lack thereof, encompassing both the advantages and the challenges of the locations. The purpose was to understand and evaluate best practices in terms of sustainable technologies, water and energy sources, waste reduction and recycling, energy and water reuse, among others. Before designing the ideal model, 47 success cases of eco resorts were analyzed based on their successful sustainable approach. They were selected based on their sustainability certifications, actions and initiatives. Of those, three were selected to be further scrutinized and presented as benchmarks.