Like Living in a Future World: 38 Luxury Villas on the Red Sea Whose Exteriors Look Like Floating UFOs
It looks like a scene straight out of a sci‑fi movie
Summary
- Shebara Resort is located on the Red Sea in Saudi Arabia, with 38 mirror-finished, spherical overwater villas that create a futuristic scene like UFOs floating on the surface.
- The architecture is by Killa Design, the firm behind the Museum of the Future in Dubai. Its highly reflective stainless-steel exterior mirrors the sky and sea, so the buildings almost blend into nature.
- The resort has 73 villas in total, and uses prefabricated, cantilevered structures to reduce impact on the coral reefs and surrounding ecosystem.
- The guest rooms, designed by Studio Paolo Ferrari, use onyx, wood, leather, and metal to shape a space that feels both natural and futuristic.
About 25 km off the coast of Saudi Arabia, silver “spheres” float on the turquoise sea. At first glance, you might even wonder whether they are UFOs from the future. Designed by Killa Design, the firm behind Dubai’s Museum of the Future, the luxury Shebara Resort uses mirrored, futuristic architecture to blend into the Red Sea landscape. The photos alone make it hard not to look twice.
38 “mirrored UFOs” floating on the Red Sea
Images from / Studio Paolo Ferrari
Shebara Resort has 73 villas in total, including 38 overwater villas and 35 beachfront villas. The most eye-catching are the spherical structures on the water, whose highly polished stainless-steel exteriors reflect the sky, sea, and surrounding scenery in full. As the light and weather shift, the buildings can even seem to disappear into their surroundings, blurring the boundary between the horizon and the architecture.
Step inside, where futuristic design meets natural elements
Images from / Studio Paolo Ferrari
If the exterior looks like a space capsule, the interiors bring a warmer, more delicate feel. Designed by Studio Paolo Ferrari, the guest rooms echo the spherical architecture with flowing curves and materials such as onyx, leather, wood, travertine, and polished metal, bringing futuristic design and natural textures together. From the sculptural bathtub and hidden storage to the bed platform integrated with the nightstand, every detail is custom-made to follow the building’s curves. In the primary bedroom of the Royal Villa, even the entire bed is carved from onyx.
Images from / Studio Paolo Ferrari
A resort that almost “disappears” into the Red Sea
Images from / Studio Paolo Ferrari
Rather than deliberately becoming the focal point of the natural landscape, Shebara Resort is most appealing for the way its mirrored architecture seems to “disappear,” allowing the surrounding largely undeveloped mangroves, white sand dunes, seagrass, and coral reefs to become part of the architecture. Beyond luxury, this highly futuristic resort also reconsiders the relationship between travel and nature.
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