Angsana Real de la Quinta: Case Study, Spain

Expertise: Master Planning
Architecture
Typology: Mixed-Use
Components: Resort / Hotel, Resort Community, Branded Residences, Multi-Family, Spa / Wellness, Meeting / Banquet, Retail, Office
Attributes: Destination, Placemaking, Wellness
Scale: 40,000 sqm built area, 4.6 hectare site

brick, stone, orange trees shade in the courtyard the sea below

Place

Place: A hillside above Benahavís

Real de la Quinta occupies two hundred hectares of hillside above Benahavís, near Marbella, adjacent to a UNESCO biosphere reserve, where the land falls away in rolling slopes toward the Alborán Sea. On a hilltop within that community, OBMI shaped a resort and residences for Banyan Tree's Angsana brand, its first in Spain.

The resort stepping down a wooded hillside at dusk, mountains behind — The resort on its hillside

Approach

Approach: Stepped with the terrain

The terrain set the terms. OBMI produced a compact plan tailored to the client's programme and to the constraints of a complex site, working with the contours and leaving them in place. Stepped architecture follows the hillside, and raised plazas look down into the gardens and pools on the levels below.

“OBMI showed a thoughtful approach to the context. Through the careful use of the site’s topography, courtyards, gardens, and gathering spaces, the design creates memorable guest experiences that encourage connection with nature.”
Oscar Gutierrez Diez · Technical Manager, La Quinta Grupo Inmobiliario

The stepped buildings above a rock-edged pool, gardens trailing from the terraces — The pool below the terraces

Character

Character: The scent of orange trees

The hotel and residences sit in open U shapes around two courtyards, a form drawn from the old towns of Andalusia and scaled so that the senses are drawn in by the fragrance of orange trees and the play of sun and shade through the day. The architecture keeps to clean lines and simple silhouettes, with patterned brickwork and stonework that reference local materials and building traditions. Wide windows frame the long views out to the sea and open the interiors to the landscape.

A courtyard of olive trees between two wings, the sea beyond the far terrace — A courtyard open to the sea

From a balcony: the pool terrace, the hillside and the sea on the horizon — The view from a room

A stone terrace with cane armchairs, the stepped hotel wings and their planted balconies beyond — A terrace under the stepped wings

The restaurant terrace at night, lit pools on the hillside below, the lake in the distance

Programme

Programme: Rooms with a view

Ninety guestrooms and suites circle an oasis courtyard. Branded residences of 97 to 151 square metres, in two and three-bedroom configurations, are planned around the way families live, each with a private courtyard, pool and parking, alongside daily housekeeping and maintenance. Around them sit apartments, three dining venues, meeting spaces, a spa, a kids' club, adult and family pools, and commercial space, each placed to hold a view.

A residence living room under a timber ceiling, open to a terrace, the kitchen behind — A residence living room

A library lounge with tall shelves, orange armchairs and trees in pots

Experience

Experience: Treasuring each moment

Angsana is a family brand, built on treasuring each moment, and the design makes room for that at every scale: a moonlit paddle around the salt-water lake below, a nature hike into the local flora, an afternoon in the pool, or a family dinner above the lights of Marbella.

The hotel from the pool, umbrellas and loungers along the water, olive branches overhead — The hotel from the pool

The arrival court at dusk: a low canopy, lavender beds and olive trees before the hotel

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The palace facade lit at night across the pool, lanterns on the steps