Atlantis Sanya on Hainan is one of the largest resorts in the whole of China. Owned by the Chinese group FOSUN and managed by Kerzner International, which also controls the “older” Atlantis The Palm in Dubai, it is definitely unique of its kind.
Based on the theme of the lost city of Atlantis, its structure is in the shape of a sail and it holds 1,314 rooms, including five deluxe underwater suites, the Aquaventure water park with an Atlantis theme, one of the world’s largest open-air water parks, and 21 restaurants, including mainland China’s first Bread Street Kitchen and Bar by Gordon Ramsay, two places open all day and an underwater restaurant.

The brief:

• In order to expand even further the already broad culinary range on offer the kitchen had to be remodelled. After ten years’ heavy use, even if with minimal maintenance and significant savings for the resort, the time had nevertheless come to replace the Ambach equipment.
• “We wanted to create something innovative, with a wow factor, for all the open kitchens”, recalled Acker So, director of Angles + Curves, the consultancy which guided the design team. “Also, considering the running costs, prices of raw materials, costs of staff management and investments in equipment, we had to think about maximising productivity”, added So.
• “A fundamental requirement to be taken into account when designing the kitchen was to make sure that guests could see the chefs work”, said David Laval. “There’s a lot of space in the kitchen and everything is correctly positioned, but the most important thing is the extraordinary experience to offer guests”. 

The solution

• Given the success of past collaboration between Angles + Curves and Ali China, Ambach distributor in China, for projects such as those for Marriott, Hilton, IHG and Hyatt, it was immediately clear that the Alto Adige company was to play a key role also for Atlantis Sanya.
• The Saffron All Day Dining restaurant has eight open kitchen workstations serving western and Asian dishes, prepared to order for each guest. It is equipped with two cooking islands from the System 850 series, one of which is the first Ambach grill workstation in China.
• The biggest challenge was integrating western and oriental equipment within a single custom System 850 island. Thanks to collaboration between the Ambach design department and local suppliers the end result is a perfect mix of the two elements. 
• The island includes a gas pasta cooker, a salamander, a coal grill, a Chinese wok and an electric plancha. 
• “Just like in any project of this size we had to face various challenges, all of them overcome thanks to a perfect combination of patience, experience, teamwork and effective communication. The result is amazing”, concluded David Laval, who heads the accommodation facilities of Atlantis Sanya.
• Close cooperation between client and consultancy was essential in order to achieve a top-level result. When Atlantis Sanya opened in the spring of 2018, it did so with the satisfaction of all the partners involved.