Courtesy of Orior
Just a short walk from the turquoise waters of Turks and Caicos, real estate developer Latitude 22 has designed Karaya Blue, a sustainable micro-development resort. The six Karaya Blue villas are equipped with incredible eco-conscious features provided in part by partners Orior, a New York City–based design firm, and local Tesla Powerwall representative Renu Energy.
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In the villas, Latitude 22 sought to create a green vacation spot that’s also luxurious. “Our managed villa development at Karaya Blue—a place where modern technology, leading-edge design, and simple luxury, are all seamlessly integrated with their natural surroundings—will be the most advanced expression of sustainability TCI has yet seen,” says Gary Belk, managing director of Latitude 22.
Courtesy of Orior
The three-bedroom, three-bath villas each occupy a half-acre estate. The properties include private saline swimming pools and outdoor entertainment spaces amidst the tropical flora of the island. The villas are offered in two floorplans that both offer ample natural light with expansive windows and interior atriums. The villas are just a 10-minute walk from the beach, but a 50-acre open space preserve buffers the properties from the ocean and provides the natural landscape that inspires much of the villa’s design.
Courtesy of Orior
The spaces are designed to be beautiful and cooperative with the environment. The open plan of the kitchen and living spaces serves as a focal point of the villas as a space to relax and enjoy the natural environment outside as the window-filled walls minimize the boundary between inside and outside. The exteriors are hurricane resistant and work with the natural surroundings rather than against them with their generous overhangs, ventilating windows that cool and provide natural shade, and materials in tropical, natural hues and textures to unite the indoor and outdoor spaces.
Courtesy of Orior
Latitude 22 incorporated a plethora of technologies to make responsible use of energy and resources at the properties. Renu Energy TCI custom-designed fully integrated solar electrical systems for the villas, complete with a Tesla Powerwall energy storage package that includes a home vehicle charger for the eMoke or Polaris GEM e4 that is included with the property. Guests may also upgrade to the Tesla Model 3. Furthermore, each villa is equipped with an advanced water catchment and recycling system and features low toxicity, natural finishes as well as energy-efficient lighting and appliances.
Courtesy of Orior
Karaya Blue Villa owners may take advantage of custom furniture that Orior designed specifically for the modern, cozy vacation space using leftover material like leather scraps, wood cutoffs, and metal parts from their factories in Northern Ireland. The furniture and interior decor take inspiration from the island itself with shapes, colors, and textures that call back to the vibrant tropical setting.
“By using an eclectic approach that explores unexpected shapes and colors, we were able to create a range of different areas within the villa for guests to enjoy. Through using recycled materials from Orior’s production facilities, we wanted to further connect the landscape and the villa interiors,” said Orior’s Creative Director Ciaran McGuigan in a press release.
The Karaya Blue villas incorporate natural light with internal atriums. Courtesy of Orior
In the long run the Karaya Blue team hopes the villas serve as a precedent for sustainable development on TCI and in future vacation developments. “Ultimately we will measure the project’s success by the genuine satisfaction the villas bring to their owners and renters and the extent to which the genuine approach to sustainability it manifests becomes commonplace both in TCI and the rest of the Caribbean,” says Belk.
