Architects Now Designing Homes for Mortals

The concept of owning a home designed by a well known architect is something most of would only dream of. Times are changing and so are the marketing plans of many property developers who are increasingly using well known architects to sell their homes

It is true that international property investors have a huge choice of luxury resorts from around the world to choose from. With so much competition attracting the most desirable customers is becoming increasingly difficult. One way in which some resort developers have decided to attract potential buyers is by using high-profile architects on their projects.

Shigery Ban, who designed the Pompidou Centre in Metz, Zaha Hadid, Piero Lissoni, Chad Oppenheim and Japan's Kengo Kuma are all well-known architects and designers and they are all being employed to design luxury hotels and resorts. What's even more astounding is that this group of celebrity architects is currently working on one resort - Dellis Cay. This private island is part of the Turks and Caicos Islands in the Caribbean.

Dellis Cay is being developed by Turkish tourism magnate Dr. Cem Kinay. Piero Lissini is designing the main hotel and a set of villas in his typically modern, bold and simple style. In a recent interview in The Independent, Dr. Kinay notes that "The architects are our biggest selling point." One bedroom apartments on Dellis Cay start at £835,000.

Another new development that is making use of well-known architects is Portugal's Bom Sucesso, north of Lisbon on the Silver Coast. There are more than 20 popular European architects that are working on different designs and buildings for Bom Sucesso, including Alcino Soutinho, Goncalo Byrne, Alvaro Siza Vieira and even England's award-winning David Chipperfield. The architects adhered to a set of rules that provide the formal unity of the project, but which simultaneously enabled them to follow their own original and specific objectives. Most important among these rules and vital for the originality of the resort, was that all rooftops should be covered in greenery and any walls should either be covered in greenery or else simply not exist at all.

Other resorts around the world are using architects to get a leg up on the competition. Melvin Villarroel is working on a community in Marbella, Spain called Lomas Club. Homes at this development are also being designed by Angel Taborda and Victoria Guana, and Villarroel is also working on several other new resorts in Spain.

Matteo Thun is designing a new set of fascinating apartments in the Austrian resort of Katschberg called Edel:Weiss. Sir Norman Foster is working on several projects; one is in Egypt called Serrenia and there is also Corniche Bay resort in Mauritius. These villas will only cost £1.7 million.