Kona Village, A Rosewood Resort is much more than a resort – it’s a symbol of Hawai’ian hospitality, a sacred land and nature preserve, and a model guide for sustainable and resilient development.

The original Kona Village was an iconic resort located along 81 acres of the Hawai’ian coastline. It operated from 1965 until 2011, when a tsunami caused massive damage, leaving the property empty for more than a decade. The luxurious, tranquil resort was re-opened in 2023, marking a long-awaited and significant milestone.

The project was designed and built according to the Hawai’ian concepts of Ho’okipa (hospitality), Moana (ocean), Ho’omau (resiliency) and Ohana (family). The design team and developer brought together a collective of local artists, craftsmen, engineers, and cultural and community leaders to reimagine the property in a way that highlighted its natural beauty and honored its historical roots while balancing innovative sustainable features and modern touches.

“Kona is the most incredible project I’ve ever been part of,” says Drew Gourley, Nordic PCL’s Director of Preconstruction Services and Construction Manager for the project. “It was an honor to build and I’ll never get tired of talking about it.”

To deliver the luxury resort with minimal disruptions to the land, Nordic PCL was hired in 2018 to work with the team through an extensive preconstruction process. A Sustainability and Resource Management Plan provided thought leadership and helped guide the project vision with low-impact final operations in mind.

The team, led by project owner Kennedy Wilson, undertook an extensive deconstruction process by partnering with Re-use Hawaii, a not-for profit that diverts waste from landfills and contributes to a circular and sustainable local economy. Through this partnership, over 96% of waste was either reused or recycled. Almost 9,000 linear feet of lumber alone was salvaged and made available to island communities.

The Nordic PCL team removed tsunami debris, repaired infrastructure and built power grids, energy and water systems, reservoirs, roads, trails and white-sand beaches.

Unique to the reimagined Kona Village are the LEED GOLD design features and sustainable systems. The resort is 100% solar powered and is on course to earn LEED, TRUE and SITES certifications. Hawaii is susceptible to drought and Hawaiians have a history of protecting freshwater resources. An onsite wastewater treatment plant, the reuse of wastewater for irrigation and low-flow fixtures have largely eliminated Kona’s demand for potable water from existing sources.  

Additional features on the property stand as a testament to the integrated project team's commitment to honor and safeguard the cultural and natural resources of the area. The Nordic PCL team worked with a cultural leadership committee created just for this project to protect artifacts when found and educated team members, subcontractors and vendors on the cultural importance of the project.

All employees underwent Culture Orientation Training prior to working onsite, and work included the preservation of anchialine ponds, lava fields and 18 archaeological sites, one of which has the highest-density collection of Hawai’ian petroglyphs on the islands.

Landscaping was a critical-path activity, an approach not often seen in construction. More than 500 existing trees were relocated to temporary nurseries onsite and then reused in the new landscaping. New trees, shrubs and ground cover were grown in local nurseries. More than 1,800 trees were planted onsite, with plantings starting two years prior to project completion to factor in growing time prior to the resort re-opening.

In the end, the project team successfully built 150 guest hales (thatched roof homes), 140,000 square feet of common-area buildings, five restaurants and bars, tennis courts, four pools and a world-class spa and fitness center.