YSG Studio Turns Bunker Into Ubud’s Modern Babylon
The Moon Gang hotel in Ubud, Bali, opened in June as a deliberate break from the island’s usual design-hotel style. While Bali’s design scene often features rattan, exposed wood, and carefully arranged swimming pools, Moon Gang—created by YSG Studio—rejects convention. Instead, it incorporates the region’s natural surroundings, cultural heritage, and traditional craftsmanship, beginning with the building’s foundation.
Retaining Walls, Redefined Spaces
The project started with a neglected private home, its concrete walls so deteriorated that repairs were necessary before construction could proceed. Yasmine Ghoniem, the studio’s director, chose to retain the existing walls rather than demolish them. The team removed obstructive columns, lowered a central archway, and cut organic openings into the space, reshaping the layout while preserving its history. A tiled entrance was thickened to improve sightlines toward a newly leveled pool, strengthening the indoor‑outdoor connection.
The hotel’s hillside location presented additional challenges. Accessible only via a narrow paved path, barely wide enough for a scooter, the team transported materials by foot or motorbike. Every structural joint was designed for on-site assembly. The exterior was covered in a warm, cinnamon‑toned recycled earth‑based plaster, while damaged floors were relaid with interlocking terracotta tiles. Even the boundary slats, originally rotted, were replaced with reoriented breeze blocks arranged to resemble wood grain.
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Artisan Indigo Suite Unveiled
Atop the building, a new bamboo suite stained in deep charcoal indigo serves as a central feature. Inside, more than 15 Indonesian artisans contributed, often expanding their creative boundaries. Pagi Motley, a dye workshop, hand‑dyed the two‑story suite’s curtains using indigo, mango, coconut and ketapang leaf extracts, producing shades from golden yellow to deep navy. This method was untested: the workshop had never layered multiple dyes on a single fabric before. When Greenman Banana’s banana‑paper cloud pendants required a deeper indigo tone, YSG invited Pagi Motley to collaborate on the solution.
The furniture also reflects this hands‑on philosophy. Weedoo Plastics, which previously worked only in neutral tones, supplied coloured recycled plastic to BYO Living, a local workshop. The team then built new machines locally to press the thick bullnose counters in the Nongkrong Lounge. Ghoniem said she couldn’t give up on chunky curved surfaces.
Philosophy Embedded in Design
The design extends beyond materials into deeper meaning. Every artwork and sculpture was sourced from Indonesian art fairs or local galleries, with several pieces created specifically for the hotel. The pool’s black‑and‑white checkered tile pattern, for instance, mirrors Saput Poleng, a Balinese principle of balance often seen in temple‑wrapping cloths. Custom timber shrines hang in varying tones, while smaller resin and wood versions serve as room numbers. Staff place daily offerings on ledges, reinforcing the hotel’s alignment with Tri Hita Karana, the Balinese philosophy of harmony between spirit, community, and nature.
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Sound contributes subtly yet consistently to the experience. The Nongkrong Lounge includes a curated vinyl collection and a DIY DJ setup, but its standout feature is the bio‑sonic system installed by the Indonesian duo Bottlesmoker. This system converts plant electrical signals into a faint, continuous soundtrack, merging technology with the hotel’s organic design.
Accessing Moon Gang is not simple. Guests arrive via chauffeured scooter, a three‑minute ascent from Ubud’s main road along the Sari Organic Walk, past rice paddies, coconut groves, and roadside eateries. The entrance is framed by timber doors carved with moon motifs, leading to an L‑shaped building wrapped around a pool. From the top of the stairs, the view presents a carefully composed scene: the cinnamon‑hued render, arched openings, and mature planting create the illusion of an established presence, despite half the structure being newly built.
What sets Moon Gang apart is not just its materials or craftsmanship but its emotional resonance. A visually striking hotel can be replicated anywhere. This one cannot. The walls, the dyes, the bio‑acoustic frequencies, and the daily offerings all tie directly to its location. It is not merely a building, it is a deliberate reaction to place.
