Architect Jonathon Leitersdorf explains the vision behind luxury resort Six Senses Ibiza in this video produced by Dezeen Studio for the AHEAD hospitality awards.

The Six Senses is located in Cala Xarraca, on the northern tip of Ibiza. The project was named the winner of the spa and wellness category at the AHEAD Europe awards 2021.

The AHEAD awards celebrate striking hospitality projects from across the world and is split into four different regions: Europe, Middle East, and Africa, Asia and the Americas.

The winners of the AHEAD Europe hospitality awards were announced during a live ceremony in London on 19 November.

According to Leitersdorf the hotel was designed to take cues from local village spaces on the island, in order to feel more like a real community.

"The first concept that we had in our mind was a sense of discovery," Leitersdorf told Dezeen.

"We ended up with a concept of a utopian village built out of nine buildings, which are actually all connected underground."

"The idea was to create something more like a village that has outdoor spaces and indoor spaces that are all a little different and a lot more intimate, then people will be happy to stay and never leave."

The 20-acre site offers up to 116 guest rooms and includes restaurants, a spa and wellness centre, and a yoga pavilion.

The resort's design takes cues from the surrounding environment, with many of the structures finished in terracotta hues and an organic material palette, reflecting the rugged terrain of the site.

"Because we are building into the rock, it was very important for us to have our treatment to be very similar to the rock and basically camouflage the buildings, so when you approach from the water, you really see one colour".

Letiersdorf told Dezeen that the most important part of the building process was designing the overall experience of the guests.

"We design, from start to finish, the whole experience of a person in the environment – the human architecture, the connections," said Letiersdorf.

"So there's always the sense of intimacy, always excitement, another place to go.  [There's] a sense of discovery."

Images courtesy of AHEAD.

Partnership content

This video was produced by Dezeen for AHEAD as part of a partnership. Find out more about Dezeen partnership content here.