Minthis Hills / Woods Baggot
Text description provided by the architects. Minthis is a resort-style development located in the hillside setting of Tsada Village in Paphos. With Cypriot developer Pafilia, Woods Bagot’s London studio delivered master planning, architecture, interior design, and branding services to create a unique retreat-style experience, combining the best of local antiquity and premium amenities.
Works include the creation of a new village center and associated villa development in the community of Tsada, featuring a major upgrade of an existing golf course and 16th-century monastery built in the Byzantine tradition, as well as the creation of 44 residential villas, a contemporary clubhouse, a wellness spa with a pool and a village heart comprising restaurants, bars and retail stores.
Villas are inspired by traditional Cypriot vernacular of the ‘mountain village,’ featuring pitched rooves, cypress timber, terracotta, and integrating locally sourced limestone. Each villa is planned around a traditional courtyard that allows internal volumes to access shade and natural breeze. The new village square or ‘Palatia’ is designed to be the focal point – a contemporary adaptation of the traditional Cypriot village square, flanked by art and crafts galleries, fashion boutiques, a fine wine “cava” or cellar, a providore and an authentic eatery.
The wellness spa covers an area of 2,400 square meters and integrates essential oils and aromatherapy from indigenous herbs and plants found around the Minthis estate. Offered treatments range from an internal lap pool, yoga studio, gym, hydrotherapy, various therapeutic and beauty applications, and treatment rooms. Each timber-clad treatment room incorporates an indoor massage bed zone and an outdoor foot massage zone, each defined with a different species of tree ranging from citrus, pomegranate, or fig, exuding intoxicating scents and considered in in medieval iconography to represent rebirth.
