Auka Boipeba, a Brazilian island hotel, review

Designed by architecture studio FGMF, Auka Boipeba describes itself as an inn, though it’s certainly unlike any inn we’ve ever been to

BY DAVEN WU

Located on Boipeba, a bijou Bahian island off the Brazilian coast, Auka Boipeba is the work of São Paulo-based architecture studio FGMF, which has gently inserted 20 suites into a stretch of jungle on the edge of the beach.

The brief from the owners, veteran hoteliers Antônio Carlos Berti and Rogério Sasso (who run four other guesthouses on the island), was to work with local materials. They also wanted every suite to have an ocean view, a generous balcony and a private pool. Almost immediately, the architects encountered a problem, realising that the only way for all rooms to face the ocean would be to have ‘a single block intersecting the land at an awkward angle’.

Auka Boipeba

After many iterations, the architects solved the diktat rather ingeniously. To please the clients, they kept the original plan of stacking suites in a rectangular volume and maintained the parallelism in the internal spaces, but to avoid a monotonous uniformity in the façade, the balconies all come in different shapes, sizes and permutations. Some have pergolas or sunshades, others have concrete sun-loungers, retractable awnings or sunbathing nooks. The plunge pools vary in design, too, with some bordered by glass while others feature infinity edges.

Amid all that jungle foliage, there is a midcentury Paul Rudolph-esque vibe about the way the rectangular, all-white volumes interlock, the uniformity of the silhouette punctuated by the variations in each balcony, some dotted with local plants. Cobogós (perforated bricks used to build walls) provide privacy and shade, while string hammocks are perfect for post-prandial siestas.

FGMF’s founding partner Fernando Forte says, ‘The design is a complex construction that explores the diversity of elements in an unusual way, allowing for interesting one-off experiments, such as a balcony completely wrapped in cobogós.’

Unsurprisingly, the best rooms are on the second floor, with views out over the tree line to the dappled ocean, while the ground floor suites are assured privacy by way of strategically placed plantings. Not that guests are confined to their suites. A bar, polygonal communal pool, sun deck and sauna can be found on the northern edge of the resort just before the beach begins – which, incidentally, is the best vantage point to catch the sunrise.

Nature percolates through the space. Rainwater is harvested, and waste is filtered and composted. The spa – a beachside garden screened off for privacy but otherwise porous to the sound of the waves – offers massages and ayurvedic therapies using cold-pressed artisanal coconut oil and locally distilled organic essential oils.

The restaurant, meanwhile, is located behind the suite block and was conceived as two raw concrete slabs that seem to float over a large garden. On the menu are some Bahian classics, with standout dishes including a shrimp stew risotto and yellowtail snapper ceviche, with the seafood generally sourced from the area’s coastal waters.

In the language of the Mapuche people of Chile, ‘auka’ means daring, intrepid, non-traditional – words that not only aptly describe FGMF’s clever solution to a seemingly tricky architectural brief, but which also fit this little Brazilian jewel to a tee.