Eco Village at Aarey Vasundhara
Location: Aarey, Goregaon, Mumbai
Year: September 2023
SEA Clinic was approached by the NGO We Will Help to create designs for an eco village in Aarey for the community and the public at large to engage with nature in the heart of the city. The programmes included a nursery, a cafe, a shop to sell indigenous products, spaces for workshops for nature lovers as well as admin spaces for the NGO.
The Design Concept creates a built form and a place that is environmentally friendly and relevant for WWH, the community, and the city to use as an institution, a community centre, and a garden. It is planned as an environmental experience centre and an eco village designed as a series of integrated pavilion-type structures that blur the relationship between the indoors and the outdoors creating an experience of a ‘verandah in the forest’. The architecture uses principles of passive energy and materials with low embodied energy.
The overall structure is made of steel, such that it can be long-lasting but at the same time can be dismantled easily and recycled after the lifespan of the programme is completed, such as to restore the site to its original state without environmental damage. For this, the structures are proposed to be raised above the ground such that the ground remains undisturbed. The raised structures will have a flooring of recycled precast concrete, and the walls will be made of stabilised mud blocks. The roof is made up of insulated Galvalume sheets. Provisions of water harvesting and solar panels will be made to ensure saving of water and energy. The landscape will comprise of indigenous plants that maintain the aesthetic of the wilderness of the site.
Year: September 2023
SEA Clinic was approached by the NGO We Will Help to create designs for an eco village in Aarey for the community and the public at large to engage with nature in the heart of the city. The programmes included a nursery, a cafe, a shop to sell indigenous products, spaces for workshops for nature lovers as well as admin spaces for the NGO.
The Design Concept creates a built form and a place that is environmentally friendly and relevant for WWH, the community, and the city to use as an institution, a community centre, and a garden. It is planned as an environmental experience centre and an eco village designed as a series of integrated pavilion-type structures that blur the relationship between the indoors and the outdoors creating an experience of a ‘verandah in the forest’. The architecture uses principles of passive energy and materials with low embodied energy.
The overall structure is made of steel, such that it can be long-lasting but at the same time can be dismantled easily and recycled after the lifespan of the programme is completed, such as to restore the site to its original state without environmental damage. For this, the structures are proposed to be raised above the ground such that the ground remains undisturbed. The raised structures will have a flooring of recycled precast concrete, and the walls will be made of stabilised mud blocks. The roof is made up of insulated Galvalume sheets. Provisions of water harvesting and solar panels will be made to ensure saving of water and energy. The landscape will comprise of indigenous plants that maintain the aesthetic of the wilderness of the site.
