Even the MOST AMBITIOUS and EXPERIENCED entrepreneurs realise as that in the course of their careers some projects will only occupy their fantasised reverie, never coming to fruition. But don’t suggest that idea to Ahmed Saleem, the Maldivian businessman and architect who designed the world’s first underwater restaurant back in 2005. The spectacular space, named Ithaa – which means mother-of-pearl in the Maldivian language Dhivehi – debuted at his company’s resort, the Hilton Maldives Resort & Spa (it’s since been rebranded to the Conrad Maldives Rangali Island), to plaudits that rang out round the globe. Now Saleem has a new dream and, on a blisteringly hot Sunday morning in February in a welding yard in the industrial west of Singapore, he’s standing in it. “When we opened Ithaa, I immediately thought about this,” he says, glancing around the space. A compact, lively man with a glint in his eyes and the wide, excited smile of a boy, Saleem is here to inspect his next seminal achievement — “the last great thing before I retire” — the world’s first underwater room, to be opened at the Conrad towards the end of the year. “I knew I wanted to do a room. Dubai has underwater rooms but they’re just in a fish tank. This is in the natural sea.” On paper the endeavour seems ridiculously ambitious: the Muraka (meaning coral) villa, costing US million to build, will have living, dining and sleeping rooms above water, all a prelude to the marquee underwater bedroom where walls of windows will supply guests with an unparalleled sense of place. “In our company [Crown Resorts] we like to do what people think is impossible because we believe nothing is impossible,” Saleem remarks. “There is amazing knowledge all over the world; it’s just a question of finding that knowledge,” he explains, his eyes lighting up. “I was the first architect in the Maldives and tourism was just starting after I graduated. I wanted to make the country aware of what architects can do.” The room provided many more challenges than Ithaa, even though he’d designed both and used the same marine engineer for the two projects. “This is more sophisticated. We need to take extra precautions for safety because people will be sleeping here. We need a constant supply of oxygen and we have two systems to ensure that. And we have to have an extra escape ladder. We need fire alarms, lighting, exhaust systems, electronic sensors. The biggest challenge was fitting the curtains in a way so as to not to ruin the view.” S aleem expects the villa to feel like an opulent home, set in its own private area of the 150-room property, connected to the resort by a 300m bridge. Equipped to the highest global standards, “it will have a dedicated butler,” Saleem explains. “If you want lobster and champagne at 3am, we can do it.” Interiors by New York-based Japanese architect Yuji Yamazaki are inviting, with a soft deep-brown silk-blend carpet, deep-brown muted tones and reflective surfaces to flood the space with light. News of the project, which until now has been kept under wraps, will prompt others to copy him. “Everyone will try to do it, but you need financial resources. One advantage we have: I am a trained professional. With outside consultants, it’s not as easy to make sound decisions.” Mike Murphy, the engineer for the project, has the same boyish enthusiasm Saleem. He worked on factories, roads and bridges before building his first aquarium, in the 1980s in his native New Zealand. The villa, his second project with Saleem after Ithaa, is “definitely more complicated [than the restaurant]. The sleeping quarters need fire-rated doors and walls, alarms and emergency lighting. Plumbing and drainage are big considerations. We will also have to cover the joints [between panels] with acrylic strips to stop the marine worms burrowing in”. Saleem had approached him 18 months earlier with the design and they bounced ideas back and forth. “It grew, became too heavy, then shrank,” he says. There were “four or five” different designs mooted before they found common ground. Murphy was never in any doubt about the viability of the scheme. “With the experience I have, I thought it was easily done,” he says, and he speaks with extraordinary lucidity about the need for precise computations on structural strengths, load cases, deflection calculations of the arched glass, variability of water pressure when it’s sunk. “Once it’s down [under the water],” he says, “I check the inside for leaks, acrylic deflections, then I can relax. Full marks to Saleem and his team for the courage to do it.” The sinking of the villa in the Maldives in March went very smoothly, four hours of careful hoisting, lowering, positioning and securing. The underwater villa now sits some distance from the rest of the resort, a beacon at the end of the private concrete-and-wood driveway, which has “no railings – that’s the plan, you feel so free walking on it,” explains Stefano Ruzza, the Italian-Swiss general manager of the resort. “This will be like your own private island. There will be jet skis and a boat at the back – you can take them anywhere. You won’t ever have to step onto the main island. If you want to eat at a restaurant, you can take the boat over and dock right by the restaurant and walk in.” 76 CENTURION-MAGAZINE.COM
PHOTOS COURTESY CONRAD MALDIVES RANGALI ISLAND I t’s a seductively attractive sales pitch, the sense of a totally private getaway in what is already a supremely idyllic property. The Conrad splits its facilities between two islands — one shaped like an egg and home to water and beach villas, a water-sports centre, a spa, children’s club and the majority of the resort’s 12 bars and restaurants, the other slender like an extended finger and popular with couples for its overwater villas and spa — connected by a 500m bridge. The property is large enough that there are jogging routes detailed on a map outside the gym. Currently the walkway terminates at a giant concrete platform, the floor for the overwater part of the villa, which will Clockwise from top left: aerial view of Ithaa, Saleem‘s previous underwater masterpiece; inside the restaurant; the sunken bedroon lowered into the water; the platform on which the overground rooms are to be built also have a full kitchen, an outdoor deck with private pool, a gym and separate quarters for maids, butlers and security. Ruzza flicked on the torch on his phone to illuminate the 45-step spiral stairway to the underwater room and as he rounded the last curve a window appeared with fish swimming past. The interior was bright, and the dark-brown hues of the furnishings, carpet, and cabinetry don’t reflect in the glass overhead, allowing the exterior to come through unfiltered. Above, through the curved sections of glass in the bedroom, the water gently quivered up and down, side to side, the gentle play of the unbridled ocean. Lying on the bed, I can almost see my children swimming in the water overhead, waving down to me. It is surreal fantasy come to life. Beyond the bedroom in the lounge area, one giant section of curved glass, 180-degrees wide, looks straight out into the water, a hypnotising window out into the sea. One side of the underwater room opens onto a reef, some of which is being rehabilitated in the resort’s lagoon when the construction is completed, teeming with fish; the other side peers into the open sea, where sharks, turtles and manta rays will glide by. “This is my favourite part,” Ruzza motions as he slides open a pocket door to the bathroom. The toilet, vanity counter and shower all have clear views straight out onto the reef. “I’d never want to leave the shower. It’s amazing,” Ruzza beamed. It certainly is – truly a dream come true. The Muraka is due to open towards the end of this year; conradhotels3.hilton.com. For the exclusive opportunity to be first to stay in this remarkable residence, see page 42. CONTACT CENTURION SERVICE FOR BOOKINGS CENTURION-MAGAZINE.COM 77
