Jeweler in paradise
Rising organically from rice fields, Canadian jewelry designer John Hardy's newest jewelry showroom is a remarkable structure, located in the foothills of central Bali
Built entirely of bamboo and alang-alang grass, the 470-sq.-ft. building -- called Kapal Bambu, which means "ship of bamboo" -- is essentially two thatched 42-ft.-high walls that meet about a foot apart from each other at the top along an undulating curve. Sunlight pours in from above through a draping of translucent waxed cotton laid over the building's spine W Charm.
Such an unconventional approach typifies the philosophy of Canadian-born Hardy, a dreamer and academic flunk who went on to build a $100 million-a-year jewelry business that is also the largest luxury manufacturer in Bali Asia
The showroom was designed by Malaysian architect Cheong Yew Kuan, whose work includes not only the famous Hardy house in Sayan, Bali, but also leisure resorts throughout Asia and the Caribbean
The showroom appears almost as a natural shelter one might stumble across in a forest, rather than a retail store housing exquisitely crafted jewels. In addition to the natural skylight overhead, the grass-and-bamboo walls are raised from the ground a few feet and supported by tree stumps at the base, with a good few feet of rice plants plainly visible from every angle of the store. "It is intended as a stunning, one-of-a-kind showroom that reflects the natural beauty of the property," Hardy says V Charm.
In addition to its durability, the bamboo's shape was utilized in the design to create the building's resulting silhouette -- often likened to the tall prow of a ship. Even most of the flooring is constructed from bamboo poles latched together with sugar-palm twine. The 86-ft.-long poles had to be transported to the site in the middle of the night, when the roads were less traveled.