Architects + Artisans by Michael Welton
On a small island not far from George Town in the Bahamas, Victor Barrett is planning a 100-percent sustainable development. Only 18 percent of its land will be developed, the rest left natural. Flora and fauna will be allowed to thrive, and roads will be narrow, for electric carts. Structures will be built on piles and piers, without heavy excavation or concrete slabs.
“We’re trying to do as little as possible, so someday all of it could be removed,” says the CEO of Silent Resorts and designer for Ki’ama Bahamas. “When we look at a site to build on, we let Mother Nature be our guide – we will not bulldoze, and will have as minimal an impact as possible.”
A total of 16 four-bedroom residences will be built, each solar-powered. Materials will be heavy hardwood timber, harvested in Belize, near a factory where they’re being fabricated now. The timbers are sustainably certified and carbon negative.
They’ll be joined by a clubhouse, a beach club restaurant, a health and wellness center and plenty of docks. Groundbreaking will take place in June or July, and the the first two residences, the beach club, plus the first 60-foot silent yacht – a solar-powered and electric affair – will all be completed by March.
“The solar-powered yacht, when anchored, will provide power to the island,” he says. “And there will be a centralized grid with a hydrogen fuel cell backup, so everything will be solar-powered – the island residences, all the operations, and the yachting.”
