The resort
Kilima Peponi means the hill of paradise in Swahili. It is what people have called this ridge for as long as anyone here remembers.
The idea
We are not building a large hotel. Phase 1A is sixteen keys spread across a hillside, with gardens between them and the view in front of them. The buildings are low and dark-roofed so that they sit in the landscape rather than on it, built in stone and eucalyptus by craftspeople from the surrounding hills.
The resort grows in phases: the first sixteen keys and the gardens around them, then more cottages on the far slope, and later a cultural pavilion, spa and gathering spaces that will give Kigali a place for evenings as much as for stays.
Phase one
Four signature pool cottages, four valley cottages, seven premium pool-access rooms and the grand family villa, set across 2.7 landscaped hectares with the central pool, amphitheatre and health club between them. More cottages follow on the slope below in phase 1B.
Artist's impression.
How we build
Stone from the region, eucalyptus timber, and planting that belongs to this altitude.
The terraces, lawns and trees went in before most of the buildings, so the resort opens into a landscape that has already settled.
Rainwater harvesting, solar and low-energy systems are designed in from the start rather than added later.
Built and staffed from the hills around us. The resort should be good for Kanyinya, not just on it.