A Hawaiian Retreat

San Francisco-based Surfacedesign’s landscape artistry on the award-winning Anaha residential towers in Honolulu seamlessly integrates the local plant life and ocean waves into the structure.

Prominent architecture firm SCB (Solomon Cordwell Buenz) contracted Surfacedesign to conceive the landscape architecture for Anaha residential tower in Honolulu. The 40-story condominium project is influenced by reflection: anaha means “reflection of light” in the Hawaiian language, and the complex also reflects the local cultural traditions. A prominent example is the courtyard firepit with reflection pool. Surfacedesign used this feature to philosophically connect Anaha to the nearby Pacific Ocean. Moving inward, the lobby is framed with the largest living wall in Hawaii, featuring more than 10,000 native plants. Additional thoughtful treatments on the amenity and pool decks combined to earn Surfacedesign a prestigious Chicago Athenaeum American Architecture Award in the Landscape category for Anaha.

The stunning 317-unit Anaha complex pays homage to Hawaii’s natural beauty and history. The structure’s long axis is perpendicular to the shoreline to preserve coastal sightlines and follow the local mauka-makai (inland-ocean) wayfinding tradition of referencing natural landmarks instead of north/south/east/west. Anaha’s street level combines townhomes and retail spaces devoted to local artisans, arranged along a shaded pedestrian promenade. Surfacedesign tied together the street, the block-away ocean, and Anaha’s entrance through a submerged piko firepit area in the porte-cochère. Piko means “navel” in Hawaiian and symbolizes the beginning of life as well as peace and tranquility.

Connecting the site materially and metaphorically is a series of terraces and ADA-compliant ramps that weave through the multi-level reflective pool surrounding the firepit. The surface paving is Peruvian cremino coral stone, arranged in a wave pattern and with slight finish variations, from brushhammered to honed. The paving is mirrored and repeated across the multiple levels of this open courtyard.

For the grand lobby adjacent to the courtyard, Surfacedesign created a marquee statement: the largest living wall in Hawaii and possibly in the United States. Measuring 15 feet tall by 115 feet wide, it contains approximately 10,000 native and exotic plants. The living wall frames the courtyard and extends into the interior lobby, creating a soft transition from outdoors to indoors.

The project’s second stellar outdoor space is its 7th level amenity and pool deck. Surfacedesign extended the anaha and mauka-makai themes to the community’s primary communal area. The cantilevered glass-bottom pool is Anaha’s signature architectural feature, visually bringing the ocean to swimmers’ feet and reflects the ever-changing light from the sky and Anaha condominium tower. Surfacedesign planted mounds to create the maukamakai connection between the ocean/pool and mountain range beyond.

The outdoor-living amenities provided an opportunity to fully explore plant materials and hardscapes. Surfacedesign created a multitude of functional spaces that tranquilly co-exist thanks to

a variety of native plantings in a lightweight soil mix. A series of raised seat wall planters meanders through the landscape with native specimen trees and understory planting. The landforms facilitate the installation of larger plants on structure, and their forms are reminiscent of the broader regional landscape and mountain range beyond. Quiet garden nooks, framed by more than 60 mature trees, create immersive and contemplative spaces of respite, despite the location nestled in the heart of the city.

Set within the Ward Village development, the Anaha multi-family residential project celebrates the beauty of the shoreline, informed by native Hawaiian plants and traditions, ultimately paying homage to the natural beauty and history of Honolulu.