Pulau Tioman is located approximately 20 miles off the South-East coast of Pahang with access by boat from the port of Mersing or by airplane from either Kuala Lumpur or Singapore. Topographically the island is fairly rugged with scarce flat land basically limited to the coastal areas.Much of the island`s terrain is steep slope with numerous spectacular rock outcrops. There are beautiful beaches off the island and at inhabited areas.

The island takes advantage of its natural resources and serene beauty for tourism. The major attractions of the island are the spectacular mountains, lush forest, unique habitat and the crystal-clear sea. Thus accentuation of these elements are essential for the promotion of tourism.

Sea view Swimming Pool

The resort is situated on a site of 200 acres is located at the west coast of the island. Recreational facilities include an 18 hole golf course, 4 tennis courts, 3 swimming pools, children playgrounds, horse riding ranch, marine sport centre and other sea-sports facilities.

The resort had been voted as the “Best Location Among Resorts” in Asia/Asia Pacific region for 1992-1993. It was also accorded the “4th Annual Excellence Awards”, by Los Angeles Based prestige magazine.

Design Proposal (Phase 1 to Phase 4)

The philosophy behind the proposed design is to create authentic island living conditions for tourists visiting Pulau Tioman. Development explores the unique possibility of integrating chalets with the natural environment in order to “naturalize” the proposed built environment. By injecting such innovative design approaches, the built environment will be harmonised with nature and authentic living condition will be achieved.

To further reinforce the underlining philosophy, chalets are clustered into various groups creating a “Kampung” concept that will provide for communal living conditions for visitors. The kampung was developed to enable visitors to experience, to some degree, the authentic living conditions inherent to Pulau Tioman. Kampung living will be the essential reason visitors choose chalets over regular hotel rooms.

Phase 1 - Chalets in the midst of
tropical planting.

Phase 2 Chalets with winding path

Exotic flora native to Pulau Tioman are utilised to reinforce the kampung relationship with the island, thus blending the two together in harmony and character. The flora, however, are carefully selected to avoid turning the kampung environs into jungle.The result is a kampung with a lush garden where visitors are exposed to the colour, splendour, and scents of the island’s natural environment. Flora are planted near pathways, around chalets and areas of congregation in order to envelop visitors with their natural beauty and charm. Forced contrast, visual or physical, enhance the relationship between visitors and the natural environment thus injecting nature into the living environment.

The individuality of each kampung is expressed by a unique native vegetation giving it an image to identify itself from the Phase 1 rest. This consolidates chalets in each kampung as a single entity and not fragments of individual chalets clustered on a common area. The vegetation links chalets together under a common theme and binds them with a common identity. As a result, the kampung are named after the identity created by the plants such as Ixora, Hibiscus and Chempaka. Besides the new chalets, EDC’s scope of works also included designing the swimming pools in a manner that would permit self-supervision as a safety precaution. Children using the children’s pool are visually accessible by parents at the swimming pool who can keep close supervision and inspection of their children. In addition, quick physical accessibility in case of emergency is considered , as the children and swimming pools are in close proximity to each other.

Exotic plants planted beside the pool perform various functions in addition to the obvious function of injecting colour and scent to the pool area. Barriers were developed by the planting arrangement to control access by wandering non-hotel guests from using the swimming pool. The barrier, however, will permit visual access toward the beach and sea, visually linking the two without seperating the pool from its surrounding. Such design approaches avoids compartmentalising components into individual entities but instead visually and physically ties them all together as a single entity.

The design concept attempts to accentuate the nature potential of the island by enhancing the site with unique native vegetation, thus complimenting the natural environment.

Signage to the chalets phase 3.

Front entrance of the condotel.

The approximately 70ha.site features a per 72, 18 hole golf course and club house complex. EDC was invited to submit ideas and a proposal for the landscape master planning to enhance the beauty of the golf course and club house complex.

Master Plan Development

EDC’s proposal included various theme gardens at strategic areas to both enhance the beauty of the course and increase the challenge of the shots. The course is adorned with flowers at aesthetically advantageous points such as the tee-off areas, background of the greens and at the road intersection areas. Various species of flowering trees and shrubs were planted at each hole to create an identity of the holes with the plants, e.g. hole one is designated with bougainvillea plants, and hole three with hibiscus flowers.

Aerial view of swimming pool

Signature hole no.4 This is a 140m par three, the shortest distance of all the 18th holes. The green on its approach, is guarded by bunkers at the right and at the back. Hole four is designed as the signature hole, where golfers tee-off to the green which is surrounded by sand bunkers. These sand bunkers are split by an island of trees. A dry Japanese-styled garden with strategically placed rock boulders enhances the difficulty of the course. The wide water body backdrop and the colorful Japanese theme garden will impress golfers taking this shot. This hole provides an open view, from the tee to the water bodies and extending beyond towards the Japanese Dry Garden. The design concept is to link the visual exposure of holes no.4 and no.5. The landscape design’s intent is to welcome golfers after the long par 5 at hole one and par 4 of hole three. The numerous colours create an exhilarating view for golfers.

The main objective of this hole is to create a visually striking layout. This is achieved by planting rows of multicolored “Bougainvillea Bonsai” as a backdrop to the garden, the ‘Dry garden’ and ‘Japanese Bridge’. The flowers and the Japanese garden concept add a special depth to the attractive visual charm of the 4th hole. This hole is probably the golfers best chance for a “hole in one”. The massive landscape colors and aesthetic appeal make this signature hole most memorable.

Signature Hole No.17

18 hole golf course landscape master plan

The hole No.17 is a dog leg left, par four 340m, and should be noted as one of the most scenic holes in the whole course. It is a spectacular par four, with a 5 meter high waterfall feature which acts as a backdrop to the green. This hole is surrounded with the water lagoons that originate from the stream. Fresh air from the breeze is very distinct here and is very refreshing for golfers. All other holes (14,15,16 and 18) surrounding these areas are tree-lined with weeping willows which provide a soft texture as the main theme design. Hole no.17 is stunning as it is played downhill into water bodies backdrop that comes ablaze with the foliage of the willow trees. The waterfall feature serves as the focal point. The weeping foliage along the meandering edge of the river course, together with the Chinese architecture of the bridges, and pump house, make hole No.17 another distinctive signature hole.

Club House Complex

The Club House Complex consists of three blocks of buildings which is connected to each other via the covered pedestrian pergola. EDC’s scope of works inculde the rep-de-sign of the rectangular shape olympic sized swimming pool to a more informal free-form swimming pool complete with a outdoor spa pool, children’s slide pool and toddler fun pool.The flooring pattern of the pool is highlighted with orchid flowers and dolphins.

Covered linkway / rubberised walk path

Close view of the car parking areas at the Golf Complex

View towards the golf course from the golf complex