Wellness for living, Vedic style

Shikarpur is just 12 km from Kolkata airport, but years apart when it comes to development. Far from the urban squalor of Raj mansions and metropolitan highrise, it is a quintessential slice of Bengal countryside.

Rows of coconut trees frame scooped out ponds where muddy-green waters provide fish for those who cast a net for the day's meal from the dubious safety of sieving boats.

It was two such ponds that attracted architect Rajeev Agarwal's consent: he would take on the commission for designing a large community estate that was to have its roots in the Vedic age.

Only, there were two problems: no amount of research could throw light on the building traditions of the Vedic people, and Agarwal, who is Delhi-based, had little idea about the vernacular idiom of the eastern region.

The second was easily rectified, though it meant staying away from his studio for the better part of a year as he toured the eastern countryside, absorbing everything from frame foundations for swampy soil to the integrated use of terracotta tiles in the temples of Vishnupur.

As for the former, Agarwal consoled himself with the thought that had Vedic architects chosen other than soft, natural materials, some remnants would have survived to this day. Therefore, his interpretation was to build as close to nature as possible, but more about that later.

Over the years, Agarwal's studio had handled projects that included factories and farmhouses, shopping malls and hotels.

Through diverse use of materials, he had been able to establish a signature style that was distinctive for its tactile feel and near-absence of superfluous embellishment.

If anything, his style had grown more austere as he chose to experiment increasingly with "space and light".

Therefore, when Kolkata-based urban developer Sanjeevani Projects offered him the 125-acre Vedic Village spa, resort and residential community to design, Agarwal was at a stage of mental preparation to handle it.

"As a professional, my concerns found an outlet in the project's being in tune with nature."

At the centre of the Village was a spa and wellness centre with ayurvedic and nature cure zones, which is the part that, four-and-a-half-years after the developer's visit to his Delhi studio, is now open.

The public areas of the resort (consisting of the swimming pool, restaurants, bar and club) are to be commissioned in November.

Later, farmhouses with one to five bedroom units, and cluster houses, will be offered for residents, while a second set of residential villas is already being planned following the early success of the resort villas.

"My concerns for ecology and energy have come together while taking cognisance of the regional built form," says Agarwal, "as a part of vernacular architecture in concurrence with nature, taking away the conflict that is inherent in the act of construction."

In part, this is through the use of materials such as laterite, though precious little of it is now available locally, and through such devices as thatched roofs, terracotta tiling and Satna stone paving for courtyards and pathways.

"Initially, I had thought to build using mud," recollects Agarwal, "but that involves ongoing interaction by way of maintenance, making it untenable for such a large project."

Not all was easy sailing, however. The very ponds that had first drawn Agarwal were considered a problem by the developers who preferred them filled.

"I found the talabs fascinating, and insisted on building the villas not just by their banks, but actually within the water level, to give the project its most aesthetic USP." In the stand-off, Agarwal refused to blink first, and finally had his way.

As another experiment, Agarwal has chosen to set up a group of artisans who have worked on the project, such as the potters and tile makers, as a community on the estate who will not only replace and maintain the structures, they will also feed the proposed crafts village and interactive crafts centres and museum that are an integral part of the Village.

"All applications will emerge from the estate," says Agarwal, who has taken the precaution to build at levels that do not exceed the surrounding tree cover.

"The whole project has an urban-rural feel. The pavilions may have bamboo thatch roofs but are air-conditioned, and the use of toughened plate glass windows brings the inside out and the outside in."

Spaces are often segregated through the use of material. Thatch has been used for roofing for the spa and villas, while terracotta has been used for the time-share segment of the hotel building, not just delineating areas but also "playing on the sense of the urban and the rural".

To that end, the villas have glazed baths set in enclosed gardens that are private, away from prying eyes. "I see no room for conflict between the technical and non-technical functions of a built project, since both feed each other." Therefore, though no luxury is spared in the rooms and public areas, the walkways and corridors are all routed through open garden spaces to allow a closer link with nature.

Satisfied with the built space so far, Agarwal is now involved with the interior designers in seeking out artworks that fit his austere frame of mind.

"The Kalighat paintings are beautiful, but perhaps too colourful; I'm looking for something more monochromatic," he reflects. The landscaping by Artemesia's Nikhil Dhar has already taken root.

And the client is happy enough to want to consider the next stage of development: similar Vedic Village communities in Manesar, near Delhi, and in Jaipur.

But if there's something Agarwal is particularly pleased about, it is the size of the project.

"The scale has been particularly satisfying since it has enough diverse and large components to establish a working rhythm. It's large enough to allow for all the components I've done previously, though on a much smaller scale, for residential projects."