Oscar and Ponni Concessao’s design will enable Eco Resort to harmonise its business with nature and local culture

Amaravati, the new capital of Andhra Pradesh, will soon be plotted with the upcoming 10-acre Eco Resort. This iconic project has been planned using the tropical architecture and landscape approach. It will feature an active recreational side and a passive, quiet side, catering to different seasons and clientele. Its sensitive site planning approach deals with tracts of open spaces of a different character – from dense forest patches to orchards, open gardens, tropical thematic gardens, active recreational gardens, and water bodies.

“The aim is to combine high-end eco-resort standards and utilise indigenous architectural principles, locally available materials, and construction methodologies,” say the nationally-acclaimed architects Oscar and Ponni Conessao of Chennai-based Oscar & Ponni Architects.

“As the name suggests, the resort has been designed to adhere to principles of conservation of the ecology. As designers we have gone into detail to ensure that preservation of the natural ecosystem in the resort is extensive as well as sustained,” explains Oscar.

For instance, some 26 varieties of viable flora have been prescribed for planting across the project area, in order to mark the landscape with differentiated greenery. Locally available materials such as bamboo (foundations, wall infill, roofing), laterite soil and rock, rice husk ash (admixture, bricks), terracotta tiles, thatch roofing (insulation), Kadapa limestone stone, granite, sandstone, slate, flaggy limestone, etc will be used. Besides, battery-powered vehicles and bicycles will be provided for transport inside the campus to reduce the carbon footprint.
“We believe that ecotourism is a sustainable way of preserving the environment. Our creativity should, therefore, be channelised towards ensuring that the natural state is not only preserved but also enriched for generations,” says Ponni.