Situated in Paphos, Minthis is the newest boutique resort on the island of Cyprus. Designed by architecture studio Woods Bagot and created in collaboration with local developers Pafilia, the complex draws on the island of Aphrodite’s traditional vernacular and notions of a slow, village life to build its identity through a contemporary, yet sensitive architectural expression.
Minthis: a holistic design and hospitality vision
The London-based studio was behind the master planning, architecture, interior design and branding services of the report, which is nestled on a hillside of Tsada village. The setting includes the refresh of an existing golf course as well as an existing, 16th-century monastery built in the Byzantine tradition.
New elements comprise 44 residential villas, a clubhouse, and a wellness spa with a pool, as well as an entirely new, community-focused ‘village’ section featuring restaurants, bars and retail stores for guests and visitors.
The architecture vocabulary hints to local techniques and materials, including pitched rooves, cypress timber, terracotta and integrating locally sourced limestone. Low, rectangular volumes and clusters of interconnected spaces, alternating indoor and outdoor areas, nod to the typical Cypriot village setups, allowing the development to feel at home in its Mediterranean locale.
Meanwhile, the spa offers atmospheric interiors and treatments that include aromatherapy using local herbs and plants. Themes range from citrus to pomegranate and fig, their ‘intoxicating scents considered in medieval iconography to represent rebirth’.
Woods Bagot chief executive officer and project leader Nik Karalis described the redevelopment as being informed by the concept of the ‘modern relic’ – bringing together old and new, past and present, tradition and modernity in a thoroughly contemporary island retreat destination.
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