The project is an attempt to redefine workspace landscape design. It is conceptualized around the Monolithic building of B Safal House. The building, with an expression of simplicity and modernity, sits on a plinth, creating a sense of stranding strong on an immovable base. The challenge was to create a multi-functional open space around it that provides a break-out room for employees – an open art gallery for display for an art collection for occasional visitors, a pavilion for informal meetings, and a small amphitheater or gathering space.
The landscape design creates a prelude to the base of the mono-block office. The process began with exploring the ideas for workspace landscapes. Should it be a “Garden in an Office” or “Office in a Garden?” The garden has been designed to create an ecosystem where bees make hives, birds build nests, and fish and frogs take their place in the lake. In collaborative thinking with the project architects, Art is used as a metaphor for the landscape vocabulary, where the landscape becomes art. Various works of Robert Burel Marx, a celebrated Brazilian landscape designer, and artist, became an inspiration to look at the landscape as an art – a painting on the barren ground as their canvas, where the colors of nature become the palette but not just in two dimensions but a volumetric translation of the idea.
The garden will grow over the years, allowing trees to grow, shrubs to flower, earth to settle, and boulders to adjust. It will take its own time for this new ecosystem to develop, becoming a space where employees and visitors can take a break from their daily routine to have a stroll on a pleasant summer evening or a sunny winter morning.
The project is an example of an outdoor space with an aesthetic value. It integrates art and provides a space for employees to relax and recharge. It enhances the overall experience of the built environment and contributes to the well-being of its users.
Landscape for B Safal Corporate House
Location: Marutinandan Rd, behind Mirch Masala Restaurant, Bodakdev, Ahmedabad, Gujarat 380054
Landscape Architect: Urbscapes – Narendra Mangwani and Nidhi Parikh
Client: B Safal Corporate House
Photographer: Inclined Studio