The 161-room Chedi Muscat hotel is designed to fit into its context, a residential seaside neighbourhood. Rather than being housed in a single monolithic block, it occupies several buildings scattered across the 6.5ha site. The hotel garden's trees, water gardens, fountains and 'falaj' create a micro-environment where birdlife flourishes. At the heart of the hotel is a 12-metre-high tented lobby, evoking a grand desert tent. The reception hall refers in turn to an Omani fort, and the hotel boutique to a souk. The structure is of reinforced concrete with concrete block infill walls. All external surfaces are cement render, painted white.

Source: Aga Khan Trust for Culture