The News
The Maldivian group takes Hotel Suite Interiors for Iru Fushi’s Deluxe Water Villa and Hotel Interiors for Sri Lanka’s Pasikudah, both realised with London practice Studio Sixty7.
Sun Siyam, the Maldivian-owned hospitality group behind six resorts across the Maldives and Sri Lanka, has won two prizes at the International Property Awards Asia Pacific, presented in Bangkok. The group took the Award for Hotel Suite Interiors, Maldives, for the Deluxe Water Villa at Sun Siyam Iru Fushi, and the Award for Hotel Interiors, Sri Lanka, for Sun Siyam Pasikudah.
Both projects were led by London-based Studio Sixty7, founded by Jose Rivero and Lee McNichol. The awards are judged by an independent panel of more than eighty industry experts, and are widely treated as a benchmark for design and architecture across the region.
At a glance
Two wins, two islands, one studio
- Awards International Property Awards, Asia Pacific
- Maldives Hotel Suite Interiors, Deluxe Water Villa, Sun Siyam Iru Fushi
- Sri Lanka Hotel Interiors, Sun Siyam Pasikudah
- Design studio Studio Sixty7, London (Jose Rivero, Lee McNichol)
- Judging Independent panel of 80+ experts
- Presented Bangkok, 2026
Sri Lanka
Pasikudah, grown from its island
A boutique retreat of thirty-four pavilions on the northeast coast, rebuilt from the ground up and reopened in November 2023. The winning interiors lean on Sri Lankan craft, with bespoke furniture, handmade chandeliers and joinery made locally.
The Partnership
A shared belief that luxury should be earned by place
Both wins come out of a long collaboration between Sun Siyam and Studio Sixty7, a practice known for reading context, material and the character of a location before it draws a single line. The brief across the Sri Lankan coastline and the Maldivian lagoon stayed the same: that design should feel rooted in its environment rather than imposed on it.
“The work we have done with Sun Siyam has pushed us to design spaces that are truly rooted in their environment, not just aesthetically, but in the way they feel and the way guests experience them,” said Jose Rivero and Lee McNichol. “Luxury and a deep respect for place are not competing ideas.”
The Recognition
Named for two very different rooms
One award reads Hotel Suite Interiors, Maldives, for a single reimagined villa. The other reads Hotel Interiors, Sri Lanka, for a whole resort. Together they mark a design language that holds across scale and setting.
Maldives
Iru Fushi, a villa framed for the ocean
On a private island in Noonu Atoll, the flagship of Sun Siyam’s Luxury Collection opens its next chapter with the Deluxe Water Villa. The new aesthetic works in muted tones and natural texture: gently imperfect plastered walls, tactile finishes and breathable linen. Each villa is open-plan and serene, with a bathroom that looks straight onto the lagoon and a deck strung with a hammock. Horizon Water Villas add a 22 square-metre private pool and sunken seating made for sunrise.
“Every element has been chosen to feel grounded and sensorial, inviting guests into a deep sense of calm,” said Lee McNichol and Jose Rivero.
The most convincing luxury knows where it is
For Boujeez, the real luxury in these two wins is not the lagoon or the thread count. It is design that could only belong to the place it sits in. Interiors drawn from a Sri Lankan coastline or a Maldivian atoll, and made largely by local hands, give a destination something imported glamour never can.
A room that could be anywhere is easy to leave. A room that could only be here is the one you carry home. That is the standard we would hold any resort to, and the reason these awards read as more than a plaque.
Explore the resorts at Sun Siyam and the studio behind them, Studio Sixty7.