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| Source: BENSLEY. Concept images for Worldwild China. |
Bill Bensley is currently designing his most ambitious and innovative wildlife conservation concept to date – Worldwild China or more affectionately, The (Luxury) Human Zoo. Worldwild will touch on everything that Bensley is deeply passionate about; sustainability, conservation, wildlife protection, education and unique design.
The concept, scheduled to open in 2022, will prioritise animal welfare while developing a conservation-conscious learning experience for guests and visitors. For the animals, it will be a place for Respect, Refuge and Rehabilitation while for humans, it is being created for Education, Excitement and Experiences.
Bensley's organisation BENSLEY was approached by their client Dinglong in China to design the zoo. Bensley was intrigued - but not being a fan of zoos and after visiting many zoos in China, he turned the concept on its head and proposed a wildlife sanctuary and reserve which dedicated 95% of the land for animals to run free and 5% of the land for people to observe and learn about the animals, but stay confined in luxury hotels. The expected number of guests and visitors each year is up to 10 million.
“It is my dream that the mistreated animals of overpopulated zoos in China could run free there. Of the 60,000 vertebrates worldwide, we are reassigning non-predator animals from less fortunate Chinese roadside zoos to create an ecosystem where they can all thrive. I am planning a wildlife reserve without cages or predators, as that simplifies the equations significantly. Instead of fences, we will use natural barriers to separate species which might not get along: barriers such as rivers, mountains, forests or hahas”, he said. A haha is a recessed landscape design element that creates a vertical barrier while preserving an uninterrupted view of the landscape beyond. The design includes a turfed incline that slopes downward to a sharply vertical face.
Three continents
Set in 2,000 acres in southern China's Guangdong province, the wildlife sanctuary and reserve will have seven luxury hotels with a total of 2,000 rooms. The hotels will be spread across three zones representing the continents of Asia, Africa and Australia.
Asia's hotels will be called Dzong (228,854 sq m, 734 rooms) and Dragon's Nest (38, 893 sq m, 97 rooms) which will be operated by Hyatt. Africa's hotels will be called The Colony Lodge Hilton (211,272 sq m, 850 rooms) and Stone Town Conrad (54,783 sq m, 109 rooms).
Australia will have three hotels: the Waldorf Astoria World Wild (101,044 sq m, 220 rooms) and the Fish River Settlement by Waldorf Astoria (9,570 sq m, 46 rooms). Last but not least is Australia's tented camp, Kamp Koala (10,451 sq m, 28 rooms) which will be a Shinta Mani Bensley Collection Hotel.
Spas and wellness
Each hotel will have a luxury spa and while some of the details are still in the works, they will follow the outlines set in Bill's white paper Sensible Sustainable Solutions and will not be importing products from all over the world, but rather using local techniques and ingredients, infused with the character of each hotel.
Transport
Worldwild will have four trains which visit all three continents in the reserve. The three luxury sleeper trains are named the Tasmanian Tiger for Australia, Oriental Expresso for Asia and the African Queen for Africa. Following the head conductor wagon, each train will have five cabin wagons with suites that can accommodate up to 40 guests, a restaurant wagon and an observation wagon.
The fourth train, the Iron Horse, with six wagons, will conduct day tours in all three continents and will wind around the park and take people to eight different whistle-stops. At each stop people will experience an activity, such as a Broadway show, educating them on different aspects of wildlife, environmental protection and sustainability.
“I want to set an example that gives animals the respect they deserve,” said Bensley.
Storytelling
Bensley is known for his storytelling designs and WorldWild will be no exception. While no two will be alike in terms of architecture or experience, all of them will focus on the animals which surround the hotels, continuing the idea of a human 'zoo'.
Each of the hotels will have a different story – a DNA BENSLEY follows when designing – based on history. The Asian hotels are inspired by Bhutan, Ladakh, Nepal and Tibet, which is reflected in the architecture. In Africa the two hotels are inspired by termite colonies and the cliff homes of the Dogon and Telem people.
The Australian hotels are inspired by the Australia Gold Rush and the many types of people who flocked to the area in the search – from Waldorf himself setting up his second hotel to welcome visitors, to the Fish River settlement (home to convicts and settlers alike, searching for gold) and Kamp Koala, where a naturalist set up camp and welcomed visitors, whom he taught to treat fauna and flora with respect.
Drilling down: Dzong is a monastic fortress inspired by Bhutan, Tibet, Ladakh and Nepal. It tells the story of a lama who found a small cave there hundreds of years ago, and who meditated for 3 years before emerging and gathering a following of monks and then built a monastic fortress and welcomed rescued animals, following the lama's main teaching: to care for the earth and its creatures.
Dragon's Nest is based on a legend about seven Bhutanese gods who were all brothers and rode the skies atop dragons. They chose this peak to settle in and founded Dragon's Nest, with each brother founding either a palace or monastery. The brothers then returned to the skies to watch over their people, speaking to them through the kings and lamas, their embodiments on Earth.
The Colony Lodge Hilton was inspired by termite colonies, and tells the story of an American explorer who found drawings of a termite village for humans – and set about building this extraordinary structure, to the bewilderment of locals. The architecture remains reminiscent of termite colonies, while the interiors tell the story of early explorers to Africa.
Stone Town Stone is inspired by the cliff homes of the Dogon and Telem tribes, who built their homes along cliffs, seeking a safe height to escape flash floods. Stone Town is imagined as an epicentre of the spice trade with merchants and explorers from China, India, Arabia and many parts of Africa making it their home.
The Waldorf Astoria World Wild was opened by Astor ten years after the New York counterpart, following the burgeoning wealth of the gold mines in the British colony. At its peak, it was the grandest dame Down Under, visited by people from far and wide. The war years lay ruin to the main buildings until a renovation in 1968.
Fish River Settlement tells the tale of the most remarkable gold mine in Australia, where the first speck of gold was found in 1823. The local colonial government tried to squash the discovery but failed: settlers, convicts and immigrants flooded to the area to search for gold, creating a village which shared a variety of skills and professions and challenged the authorities to make something of themselves.
Kamp Koala was once the exploration base for Naturalist and Explorer William Bensley, who documented the wilds of Fish River. He worked with the earliest Fish River settlers to teach alternatives to hunting, and preserve the local flora and fauna. His camp grew to 28 tents, all working together to treat the wildlife with the utmost respect, and unlearn the bad habits taught for centuries.
