Dubai. A place where you can ski in the morning, shop in the world’s biggest mall in the afternoon, and, from 2018, explore a tropical rainforest in the evening.
It’s true, the city that’s also home to the world’s tallest building and a bunch of extraordinary floating villas will soon become the first place on the planet to feature a hotel with its own rainforest.
The small matter of Dubai’s location in a baking hot desert clearly hasn’t deterred Zas Architects in its quest to build the tropical oasis. In fact, it probably spurred them on. This is Dubai, after all.
Along with the requisite trees and plants, the Rosemont Hotel & Residences’ 75,000-square-foot rainforest will also include a beach, splash pool, stream, and adventure trails, though there’s no word on whether it’ll be populated with lots of exotic critters and creatures to scare the bejeezus out of unsuspecting visitors.
And as if that wasn’t enough, the luxury 448-room hotel will also feature a swimming pool 25 stories up – an overhanging swimming pool with a glass bottom offering a view 25 stories down.
But more on that rainforest.
Preetam Panwar of Zas Architects told Gulf News the man-made jungle will feature a 360-degree experience at the start called the Rain Room that “simulates the sensation of being surrounded by rainfall without actually getting wet.”
Panwar explained: “You’ll see rain but as you walk through it you won’t get wet because it has sensors on top and it stops water flowing in a two-meter radius around the person walking in the room.” Sounds intriguing, though doubting types will still probably take an umbrella along.
