New Dubai Hotel Will House Its Own Indoor Rainforest

In the future, will access to nature cost us? A luxury hotel pushes the limits

The Rosemont Hotel & Residences will be the first hotel in the world with its own rainforest. The building will house this 75,000 square feet of jungle, along with a manmade beach, a splash pool and stream inside a supersized terrarium that will use recycled water.

Designed by ZAS Architects Dubai, the two-tower complex will also boast soaring sky lobbies for guest check-in, and an edgeless pool with a glass bottom all overlooking the Gulf. It will also have “robotic luggage handlers,” which of course, means no tips necessary for the guests.

If this design is for sustainability, this is a good sign: evidence of an experiment (although it is kind of depressing to think humans would nature inside our dwellings to survive or have a high quality of life). We are creating environments in places they never were supposed to exist. This concept recalls memories of the 90s movie Bio-Dome — except this indoor rain forest is actually happening.

It’s well known that Dubai has built its successes from tapping the ultra-luxury market. In a world where the pace of environmental destruction is fast tracked its quite ironic that this oasis in the desert will only be available to the elite. The future could present a world where access to natural environments comes at a premium that only the world’s wealthiest can afford.

Construction of the giant terrarium is expected to be completed in April 2018.

Originally published at www.psfk.com on February 15, 2016.