d+a | Issue 126 • 2022

18 design and architecture #126 hospitality Sustainability is at the forefront of Bill Bensley’s work. His latest project, Shinta Mani Mustang in Nepal, slated to open in March 2023, exemplifies the sustainable ethos behind his hospitality design brand. The American architect, landscape architect, and interior designer has designed more than 200 hospitality projects in 30 countries, many of which are in Southeast Asia. sensible, sustainable solutions In his recently published whitepaper “Sensible Sustainable Solutions” – written with the aim helping the hotel industry fight climate change – Bensley suggested that hotel developers and designers should build with purpose, keeping the local community and environment in mind at all stages of the development. He encouraged those in the industry to think locally and sustainably, to be sensitive to the welfare of the local community and environment, and also to consider the conservation of energy and resources when developing hospitality projects. In this whitepaper, Bensley, who has been designing luxury hotels for more than three decades, wrote that he was “done with designing lavish hotels just to put heads on beds”. He believes that hospitality designers, owners, and operators should do more to develop properties that benefit the local communities and environments where they are built. “We should shoulder more responsibility concerning issues such as education, clean accessible water, alternative energy, energy consumption, food waste, wildlife protection, and conservation. Let’s all lose the greenwash and do something real,” he declared. Shinta Mani Mustang is a 29-suite resort in the remote Mustang district in Nepal, on the edge of the Tibetan plateau, that was guided by this vision. Surrounded by some of the world’s highest and most majestic snow-peaked mountains, the resort is located in a village called Jomson in the Annapurna mountain range in Lower Mustang – an area that serves as the gateway to the Forbidden Kingdom of Upper Mustang. It was commissioned by Nepal’s Sherpa Hospitality Group, which recently launched Mountain Lodges of Nepal (MLNN) – a brand of 15 local family-owned, luxury lodges along the Great Himalaya Trails. (Below) Surrounded by some of the world’s highest and most majestic snow-peaked mountains, the resort is located in a village called Jomson in the Annapurna mountain range in Lower Mustang. (Facing page) The resort is set within an existing local stone building. bill bensley Founder, Bensley