The challenge of designing a residential villa in Jodhpur was trifold: extreme climate, small footprint and a large project brief. The house also needed to be and is Vastu compliant – conforming with the ancient Indian design principles regarding space, sunlight, flow and function.
The plot was a restricted one within a society scheme, encumbered by the existing adjoining buildings along its compound walls on two sides, and two roads along its north and east sides. Hence, there was a need to create privacy, through orientation of the views, screens and courtyards, as well as through landscape design. The little gardens, decks, waterbodies, sculpture court, sky lit balconies and terrace gardens were all designed to enhance its spatial feel.
In Jodhpur, we fondly use stone in design, together with structural concrete and wood. To us, traditional building materials play an important role in architecture, because in the hot 45-degree sun, buildings need to take into account the local weather as also a tool to achieve a connection with the historical ambience. Over the years, the use of local stone has created an omnipresent relationship between the stone urbanscape and architecture. We have added to that mix a contemporary sensibility, and a climate cooling effect of water garden and plants seen through Floor-to-ceiling windows with screens are designed to maximise view over the water gardens, and soft surfaces that do not reflect abundant natural light. The extent of the detailed use of stone screens and expensive detailing is limited by financial possibilities.
Mansingh resort has been conceptualized as an Oasis that alleviates the visitor from the parched, harsh landscape. It rises from the sand dunes as a beacon to tourists much in the same way as Oases were to wandering travelers of the past. Like an Oasis the landscape is very integral to the design. The site spreads out like a series of pavilions around landscaped courts.The project has a number of local points of interest in the vicinity like Mehrangarh Fort, Umaid Bhawan Palace, and Jaswant Thada. The city is known as the Sun City for the bright, sunny weather it enjoys all year. It is also referred to as the Blue City due to the blue tinge of the whitewashed houses around the Mehrangarh Fort.
Set in the heart of the walled city of Jodhpur, Rajasthan, RAAS is a 1.5-acre property uniquely located at the base of the Mehrangarh Fort.
The brief was to create a luxury boutique hotel with 39 rooms in the context of the Old city quarter of Jodhpur. This has been translated into a project where there is a dialogue between the old and the new. Luxury was about being authentic both in terms materials and workmanship, and in providing visitors a tactile and sensual experience within the historical context of the old city of Jodhpur without aping the old.
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