Putting on the Ritz... Hawaiian Style

California, Florida, Arizona, Mexico, Hawaii and the Caribbean have led a tremendous boom and expansion in the hotel and resort industry of the past fifteen years. During that short time, the Ritz-Carlton Hotel Company (founded in the early 1980's) established 30 luxury hotels-among these, nine resorts, which it currently operates. Notably, the landscape architectural firm for twelve of these-including two impressive Ritz-Carlton resorts planned and constructed since 1990 in the outer islands of Hawaii-was Peridian International.

The Ritz-Carlton Mauna Lani (on the Big Island of Hawaii) and The Ritz-Carlton Kapalua (on Maui) properties exemplify highly contrasting Hawaiian coastal settings. Except for occasional native mesquite-like kiawes, the Mauna Lani site is on a volcanic plain-dry and almost tree-less, while Kapalua is sited in the verdant north end of west Maui.

Nevertheless, the properties are amazingly similar in several respects: number of guest rooms (540 to 550), acreage (35-40), not to mention that each hotel is part of a larger master-planned resort complex with world-class golf facilities and smaller separately owned hotels (developed roughly 15 years previously). Both properties have dramatic ocean and mountain views, yet both of the Ritz-Carlton sites also eschew theming and bold effects in favor of subdued, understated designs which bring the context and arrangement of built landscape features into balance with their idyllic island environments-and the concept of a Ritz-Carlton guest's experience.

The abstract concept of a Ritz-Carlton Hotel is that of a grand residence where the focus of facilities and service is on the experience of the individual guest. On the other hand, a substantial share of Ritz-Carlton business is generated from group meetings. Consequently, the hotel grounds are designed with an inherent flexibility, including broad expanses of reasonably level lawn which are ideally suited to accommodate outdoor dinners, barbecues, and receptions for several hundred people.

Consistent with the concept of the total experience, no operational aspects cross guest areas (i.e., public spaces). Service access is carefully screened so that views, lighting, and noise do not impact public spaces. Mechanical systems in public spaces are designed to be completely inconspicuous, with the visibility of such "realities of facilities design" as backflow preventers, irrigation controllers, large catch basins, and panic hardware minimized. Hardscape paving surfaces are specified with materials that resist food, oil, and other stains.

Walkways meander through the landscape connecting building entrances with destination points in the exotic garden, where the planting vocabulary reflects a regional context with a sensitivity to indigenous plants. Flowering trees, shrubs, vines and groundcovers are featured at each resort. However, given the high scale of the projects, "we attempt to use a broad range of plantings rather than a more abbreviated 'tried and true' list which we feel would be more appropriate for a standard commercial project," said Gary Beggs, Peridian's Principal-in-Charge.

Furthermore, the planting plan was developed with site-specific environmental conditions in mind. Occasional strong and drying winds blow down from the mountains on the Big Island, making it necessary to use wind tolerant plants at the entry and hotel approach areas. More exotic plantings are used closer to the coastline. "This approach is, of course, just the opposite of the way it would be done on the Atlantic coast of Florida or on a California coastline where the prevailing winds come from the ocean," added Beggs.

A pool tends to become a daytime hub of activity at a Hawaiian island beach resort, so the pools and sunning decks were configured to create many spaces (zones) that afford semi-privacy for guests; whereas streams, waterfalls, and ponds were integrated into the informal grounds at Mauna Lani to provide heightened interest and excitement in an unusually large courtyard. Natural stone surfaces like those used in the main entry and lobby lounge terrace, were used for the pool deck, while lava rock was used for the waterfalls.

The fact that the entire Mauna Lani site surface consisted of lava rock was opportune. "Lava rock that wasn't set aside when construction began for later use in construction of waterfalls, streams, and lagoons was ground up for a 'choker course,'" said David Tardiff, Peridian's associate during the construction phase. Installed at a prescribed depths below planting areas, this rock layer is designed to keep top soil from disappearing into the sub-surface.

Construction of the two resorts did not occur without their share of compromises:

When excavations at Kapalua revealed the existence of an ancient Hawaiian burial ground, the hotel ownership was sensitive to cultural issues and worked with the Hui Ala nui o Makena (the local Hawaiian ancestry organization) and the County of Maui to determine a reasonable course of action. The hotel was subsequently relocated mauka of the original site-that is, toward the mountain as distinguished from makai (toward the ocean).

When the local observatory on nearby Mauna Kea was concerned that diffusion of light fromThe Ritz-Carlton Mauna Lani would affect their nighttime studies of our galaxy, outdoor lighting of Mauna Lani was minimized to avoid such "light pollution."

The lack of a useable beach and ocean swimming area was a major deficiency of the Mauna Lani site, yet it was possible to innovate a design solution. Because large outcroppings of lava rock made the shallow water dangerous for swimming and the tide periodically littered the Mauna Lani site beachfront with small- to medium-sized pebbles, a plan was developed to blast and dredge a swim lagoon at the south end of the rocky beach and to import sand for a new sunbathing beach as part of the lagoon. As approved by the State of Hawaii agency responsible for protection of the coastline, the popular feature fits naturally into the shoreline.

Though conceived in part as the solution to a site deficiency, the design concept of the lagoon haven at The Ritz-Carlton Mauna Lani resort is thematically integrated with another interesting water feature on resort property. In distinct contrast to the site at Kapalua, which overlooks and is surrounded by a golf course, an intricate system of fish growing ponds that were built as primitive hatcheries surrounds the Mauna Lani site and have been preserved as a part of the resort, providing guests insight into the ingenuity and resourcefulness of the early native Hawaiians. One pond (actually on the Ritz-Carlton site) which had been neglected, was cleared of debris and the overgrowth of foliage along its shore, exposing deeply recessed rock caves and opening the area to tidal sources of ocean water so that fish, shrimp, and other aquatic life now flourish.

General Manager of The Ritz-Carlton Mauna Lani Lenny Zilz calls himself the "beneficiary" of a landscape designed to add to the customer's experience: "The landscaping 'brings in the feeling of Hawaii' and complements how well the Ritz-Carlton philosophy fits into the 'host nature of the culture.' Guests who spend more time [at the resort] than sightseeing get to experience . . . Hawaii at their leisure." LASN

From the inception of both of these Ritz-Carlton resorts, Peridian International Landscape Architecture worked closely with The Ritz-Carlton Hotel Company, Wimberly Allison Tong and Goo-the Architects, and Frank Nicholson Incorporated-the Interior Designers, making continued design refinements almost until the completion of construction.

Hawaiian Dredging and Construction was the General Contractor for both resorts, while Kauai Nursery and Landscape Company were the landscape contractors for Kapalua and Tropical Landscape company for Mauna Lani. Goodwin International provided the Hawaiian Maidens sculpture and the stone fountain at The Ritz-Carlton Mauna Lani.

Peridian International's Principal-in-Charge for both resorts was Gary Beggs, ASLA. Project Manager for The Ritz-Carlton Mauna Lani was Senior Associate David Tardiff, ASLA, while Senior Associate Steve Kellogg, ASLA, was Project Manager for The Ritz-Carlton Kapalua.

(Peridian International later worked with the Hui to create a suitable landscape for the burial ground. Part of an ancient stone trail was rebuilt, parking and pedestrian walkways were avoided and the entire site aesthetically graded and seeded with grass.)

(Peridian International later worked with the Hui to create a suitable landscape for the burial ground and ancient stone trail.)

(The tremendous value of the landscaping also shows in the "ongoing pride of the landscape staff," whose areas of care will soon be identified.)