Potato Head StudiosHonouring Balinese culture with progressive building design

Bali is a striking island paradise of rolling rice paddies, tropical rainforest and sweeping beaches, topped with hulking volcanoes. Among more than 17,000 islands in Indonesia, it stands out as a world-class holiday destination.

A popular Bali destination is Desa Potato Head – a creative village by the ocean where music, art, design, food and wellness play together. The newly opened Potato Head Studios, which comprises a beach club and two hotels in Seminyak, is the cultural heartbeat of the village. 

Designed by internationally renowned architecture firm OMA and engineered by Aurecon’s building design teams, Potato Head Studios offers 168 accommodation rooms, guest facilities, function rooms, bar and nightclub, and public spaces that celebrate the essence of Bali. The design honours the Balinese culture while creating progressive design and future living. 

Designed to disrupt the private typology of resorts in tropical locations, the open public areas are flexible spaces that will accommodate festival celebrations, cultural events, and day-to-day leisure activities for guests and visitors. The open platform at the ground level and a private garden on the second level evoke the raised courtyards in Indonesia, where traditional Balinese courtyards are found at ground level.

A building floating on stilts

Raising the building to create the elongated open public spaces at ground level was the grandest engineering challenge. To stay true to the architectural intent of a building ‘floating’ over the public spaces, Aurecon’s engineers formulated a structural solution that resembles a house on stilts.

A series of differing wall and frame systems provide the mirage of a floating hotel and invites locals and visitors alike to interact and connect.

The building design accomplished four elements:

1. Protected what would otherwise have been a vulnerable building against seismic activity
2. Enhanced the floating on stilts visual by hiding all services reticulation from sight
3. Sustainably manages water across the site for the good of the wider community, by sourcing sustainable drinking water, and managing flows and odours while protecting the culturally sacred river
4. Created visually stunning elements including free-span external stairs and a dome-shaped restaurant

This was accomplished by designing pilotis, or piers, as support columns that lift the building above ground. This pilotis support a hidden frame system and secretly decoupled walls, in order to balance the building’s stiffness and provide safety during Bali’s frequent earthquakes. This configuration has resulted in a cultural ground plane and a five-storey building above that is approximately 29,200 m² and 20.5 m high.

A river passing through the middle of the site was important to the community both spiritually, and functionally as their sewer. To free the site layout, create an odour-free environment, and protect from flash flooding, Aurecon designed a covered culvert diversion in consultation with community groups.

Aurecon’s network of international offices played an important role to deliver a successful building design within the project timeframe. Specialist skills were applied from offices across Asia to achieve the successful structural and building services solutions posed by the challenge of building an entertainment and accommodation precinct on stilts.