Cocoon villas nestled in nature!

Studio Symbiosis conceptualises a resort and spa contextualising the project with regional influences and the natural landscape, whilst creating a model of sustainable design in Rajasthan’s scorching heat…

This iconic architectural concept in the untouched serene landscape of Udaipur uses the original contours of the site as an interface to design eight villas, each one nested as a cocoon in the landscape by excavating the earth to create minimum disruption to the natural beauty of the site.

A ‘hexagonal’ pattern that is a common denominator in nature as well as in the regional architecture is used as a unifying element for the design. A system-driven approach uses this hexagonal base pattern to design the landscape, entrance buildings, scooping of the villas, water bodies, etc.

The design of the resort is orchestrated by the contours of the site as half the terrain is almost flat and the other half slopes significantly from the south towards the north. The dominant views from the south side are of the mountains and the sloping topography captures them well by hosting the cocoon villas here; the height differences lending magnanimously to the privacy of each. The flat terrain lying adjacent to the approach road quite naturally plays host to the Drop-off, Reception, All-day dining, and Spa and further on, a Central Plaza or open event space.

Regional elements like intricate carving and jharokhas (semi-covered balconies with perforated windows all around) are metaphorically translated into contemporary cocoons. Each villa with a master bedroom, living, dining, and pantry spread across a 140 sq. m. indoor area is conceptually a window (jharokha) to experience its outdoor pool, star gazing deck and sit-out space admeasuring another 130 sq. m. outdoor area. Using regional patterns, a stone-carved pergola shades the outdoor deck from direct sunlight, whilst embellishing it with playful chiaroscuro elements. The outdoor terraces and the depth of the villa are designed to ensure ample light inside, without exposing the surface area of the built directly to the sun.

Since the temperature in this region can go up to 45-47 degrees, earth berming keep the villas cool and the outdoor spaces are shaded with pergolas to reduce direct heat from the sun. The wind movement from South to North is channelised by creating two buildings flanking either side of the entrance to create a wind tunnel effect and compress and accelerate the wind. When this wind passes over shallow water bodies designed in the central plaza, it cools. The cooling wind moves up the inclination of the site and is pushed into the villas via the pergolas, optimised by Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD). The porosity of the pergolas is calculated to retain the wind pressure.

As part of the design process, the excavation of 1427 cubic units yielded 142.7 cubic units of rocks and 90% mud. Compressed mud blocks are created by mixing natural fibres to strengthen the excavated earth and rocks, and these are used to construct retaining walls around the villas, thus facilitating the concept of closed-loop civil construction, where one takes from Mother Earth and puts it back on the site in a new form. Most of the remaining raw material is locally sourced within a 5-km range and locally available stone anoints the outdoor landscape as well as indoor finishes.

Fact File:
Project Name: The Peak
Client: Rahul Ventures
Program: 8 pool villas, reception, restaurant, spa, gym, swimming pool, and event space
Status: planning permission
Estimated completion: 2 years
Design Firm: Studio Symbiosis
Principal Designers/ Architects: Britta Knobel Gupta & Amit Gupta
Site Area: 6746 sq. m.
Built-up Area: 1987 sq. m.
Location: Udaipur, India
Renders courtesy of Studio Symbiosis