JW Marriott Venice Resort & Spa
A Luxury Resort
In the Venetian lagoon, an artificial island is transformed into a luxury resort and park. The island, which is a state-protected landscape, has a number of early-twentieth-century buildings, including a hospital and service buildings. The project’s complexity is managed through a shift in scale from the macro (masterplan) to the micro (details).
The Masterplan, Renewal, and Landscape Design
The masterplan reorganizes the island into three main parts, each defined by its green areas.
The area of the ex-hospital (1936) becomes a luxury hotel, with 230 contemporary Venetian-style suites, a spacious rooftop terrace, an outdoor pool, and a panoramic restaurant. Adjacent to it is a convention center and an Art Nouveau brick residence converted into a stylish holiday villa with a garden and spectacular views of Venice; behind this, the old hospital’s formal gardens are maintained to enhance the island’s scenery.
The next green belt includes various brick pavilions, preserved according to the “box in a box” principle: building inside without touching the old walls in order to protect the historic character of the buildings as encouraged by the latest heritage conservation guidelines. The Maisonette, offices, suites, spa, and staff accommodations are situated in these longitudinal areas.
Beyond the Olive Grove, a geometrical garden opens onto a large vegetable garden serving the resort’s restaurants. A third green belt is planted with turnips and used for soil regeneration.
“Three Zero” Village
The project’s focus on the lagoonscape—water, slowness, and silence—is linked to consistent choices of locally available materials (brick and tiles, glass, mirrors, and Venetian textiles) in a contemporary key, without any sense of nostalgia or historicism. It is a unique place that caters to the upmarket tourist who wants an outstanding location offering “luxury through subtraction.” Away from the noise and bustle, and above all, without creating useless waste.
JW Marriott Venice Spa & Resort is, in fact, an innovative luxury resort, a “three zero” village, both in its construction and in its subsequent management: zero kilometers, zero CO2, zero waste.
text by Matteo Thun & Partners
