ecological master planning | landscape architecture | urban regeneration | sustainable design
The collaborative project with landscape architect and architects from US. Our role was to create a sustainable development manual that foucs on on understanding the various landscape type on this 2500 acre landscape and enhance its character through measures for water conservation through gully plugs, dams, ponds and enhancing the quality of wildlife corridor.
This yoga resort is spread over 22 acres in the outskirts of Bangalore city. The landscape was designed to work with natural systems and processes with water as the starting point for master planning and design. A series of detention, retention ponds along with bio-swales were created that additionally served as opportunities for outdoor activities for yoga and recreation. Pavilion and deck were created for the guests near the ponds and in the landscape. The site was a coconut plantation that was suffering from an irreversible disease. Indigenous techniques were applied to improve the soil health and a variety of native trees, shrubs and grasses were planted to enhance the biodiversity. One 25 people can stay at a time on the 22 acre landscape and 5 acres were earmarked for organic farming to supply fresh produce for the kitchen. The guest gets the opportunity to work in the edible landscape as a part of their stay.
We were involved in advising the client on selecting the 25 acres from the larger 50-acre parcel for master planning, landscape and architecture design. The project is located in the shifting sand dunes area of Jaisalmer, Rajasthan in India and is spread over an area of 25 acres. It is a luxury tented safari resort with a spa, organic farm, and poultry. The layout of the 25 tents is inspired by the Serai (temporary cities of the caravans of the nobles). It is laid out in a formal axial geometry with one end as the super-luxury tent with a private pool and the other as the swimming pool and the public spaces. The elevated swimming pool provides the opportunity to see the setting sun in the infinite desert horizon. The landscape reflects the wilderness and biodiversity of the desert predominated by regional grasses, acacias and thorny vegetation. A nursery was set up on site to collect the seeds of the grasses, native plants, shrubs and trees as none of them was available in any nursery. Wastewater treatment is integrated into landscape design and is used to conserve the soil moisture through an underground indigenous technique of irrigating the plants.
