Lift is a small experimental treetop boutique hotel located in a suburb of Ubud and Bali. Our architecture studio is in close proximity to it, and the beginnings of the project were a testing ground for ideas on how to lift structures off the ground, to have a less invasive footprint and impact, more cost effective and faster to build.

Many developments here on this island use high quantities of concrete, and the experience is often times the same. We wanted to challenge that and create light architecture while suggesting a surreal mix of industrial impermanent structures embedded into a tropical forest. Each of the structures has a different organization, material and appearance.

Somewhere stuck in the past and the future, it seeks to bridge different aspects of Bali into a memorable experience, and creates a backdrop for pictures to take or keep in mind. The park like setting holds a small sauna, a little pool, bar, benches and small recreational areas. This plus the yoga deck way above ground provides enough reason to stay there for a couple of days. We are planning on extending the hotel further down to the river.

Our aim was to create spaces where people could retrieve to, detached and off the ground., unpretentious and reduced to a minimum. We wanted to evoke a sense of impermanence and allow for other experimental structures to fill in the blanks in the future. We are now collaborating with other architects on experimenting with new shapes, materials and organizational ideas – all surrounding the idea of off-the-ground structures.