EPICURE LOOKBOOK
Cannúa, Colombia
From its bamboo exteriors, earth blocks (a mix of local soil and harvested bamboo), exposed wooden beams on the ceilings, and courtyards filled with dense vegetation, there’s much about Cannúa that hints at its amazing sustainable effort. With just 10 rooms and eight private cabanas scattered among the protected Farallones del Citara forest, the boutique hotel looks like a small village from afar, but up-close, Cannúa is in a league of its own.
The hillside escape, located 90 minutes from the metropolis of Medellín and overlooking the Valle de San Nicolas, is tucked discreetly amid the lush tropical landscape of a 75,000-acre forest in Antioquia, and deliberately so.
ECO-WARRIORS
Freshly minted in November, Cannúa has has a romantic backstory to match its peaceful, refined spaces. In 2015, three young men, Brian Schon, Santiago and Nathan Rodgers visited Colombia and fell in love with the welcoming culture, gorgeous mountainous views and natural diversity of Colombia. Eager to present this part of Colombia to everyone, they decided to design a hotel, one that would complement the natural landscape and biodiversity of the Antioquia region.
It was a massive undertaking that took four years. According to one of Cannúa’s co-founders Nathan Rodgers, embarking on this path has been a big challenge. “We want to achieve the most sustainable and environmentally-friendly building possible, without harming the forest. We used materials that are not frequently used in traditional construction, like bamboo and compressed earth blocks. And we had to comply with a lot of laws and regulations, which took up a bulk of our building schedule.”
Adding to the sustainable design concept, 70 percent of the boutique hotel’s water is supplied by grey water and rainwater, while two acres of the 27-acre property is a dedicated organic garden and permaculture food forest meant not only to feed lodge guests but also to encourage the development of local animal and plant life. A waste management system has been put in place with the ultimate goal of being a zero-waste property.
CO-EXISTING WITH NATURE
The resort is designed according to a typical Antioquian home. These homes are usually one-storey buildings, traditionally made of compressed earth, with a veranda along the front of the home and clay-tile roofs. “Cannúa is the modern interpretation of it. When you first set eyes on us, we appear to be a one-storey building as it’s built on a mountain side – our basements are exposed on the valley side. We have created views from corridors that cross the building, which results in a large veranda looking out on the valley,” shares Rodgers.
The wooden exteriors of the rooms are designed to blend harmoniously with the forest’s natural environment. Materials like
stone, timber, fabric and wooden tiles were chosen to reflect the forest’s surroundings of weathered rock, petrified timber, natural wildlife, vibrant flora and fauna, rare orchids, and emerald waters. Windows offer sweeping panoramas of the majestic mountain views, bird watching and sunsets, which can be enjoyed from swing seats in the bathrooms. Meanwhile, the private cabanas are beautiful geometric forms clad in bamboo that blend seamlessly with the forest’s topography.
No less impressive are surrounding structures, such as the Forest Kitchen that dishes up delectable Colombian fare using ingredients sourced from its in-house farms. Guests can enjoy their meals along with unobstructed views of Antioquia forest. Other notable spaces include a terracotta-tiled wine cellar and a charming rum bar, the latter lined with barrels of aged rum and vintage travel trunks for tables.
The resort spa is slated to open in the first quarter of next year and will be constructed on a rocky outcrop boasting natural shading. It includes a treatment villa and a yoga and meditation pavilion. Promising an incredible sensory experience, Rodgers aptly sums up Cannúa’s design ethos: “Integrating sustainable materials and technologies, the buildings form a symbiotic relationship with their host, becoming an integral part of the forest’s system and beauty.”