Potato Head Studios Resort in Bali by OMA

There’s no place like Bali. This tropical paradise is beloved for its natural beauty, hospitable people, the convergence of cultures and more recently, the latest kick-arse architecture thanks to OMA and the Potato Head Group. Enter Potato Head Studios, a 168-room complex located on one of the last remaining beachfront sites in Seminyak. This is the latest venture in the Desa Potato Head (desa meaning village in Indonesian) which includes the famed Potato Head Beach Club and Katamama Hotel designed by Andra Matin.

Potato Head Studios offers private guest rooms and facilities, as well as a series of public spaces. Guest rooms are elevated by pilotis and are arranged around the perimeter of the square floor plate, while the public spaces are located on the ground floor with access to the beach.

According to OMA, the ground floor “open platform is the centrepiece of the resort—a flexible stage for a range of programs such as festival celebrations, cultural events, and day-to-day leisure activities that welcomes everyone to experience Balinese culture.”

The public realm extends beyond the ground plane to a sculptural park on the building’s rooftop. Access to the rooftop is via a path that connects amenity spaces including restaurants, pools, and spas. This route also allows visitors to wind up the floating structure and marvel at the poured concrete platforms and the recycled Balinese brick facades.

Unlike most resorts on the island, Potato Head Studios is open to the public. It challenges the typical resort typology of exclusivity and privacy and instead aims to be embedded within the local community. “It is a new space for the community where visitors of all kinds—hotel guests and the general public—experience contemporary Balinese culture, while making it,” explains OMA.

Potato Head Studios is a vital addition to the group’s creative village, offering a fresh take on Bali beyond the tired trope of surfers, yogis and spiritual shrines. It is a place for engagement over consumption where the celebration of Balinese culture is front and centre. I’m sure you’ll agree this place is a bit of a game-changer in the world of resorts and we all need to book a post-COVID holiday there, stat!