Project by

Rahul Kadri

IMK Architects

Founded in 1957, IMK Architects is a Mumbai- and Bengaluru-based firm specializing in architecture, urban planning, and interiors. With over five decades of experience, the studio focuses on biophilic, site-sensitive design, delivering vibrant, socially responsive spaces across healthcare, hospitality, education, residential, and institutional projects nationwide and internationally.

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About IMK Architects

MALABAR HILL FOREST TRAIL

Design Team: Rahul Kadri, Harish Vyas, Bhumika Ganjawala, Heena Sheikh, Pooja Satam, Pramod Shelar & Anjan Kurtadkar

Site Area: Length of the Walkway: 482 m

Completion of Project: Mar 2025

Client Name: Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation

Concept Note

The Malabar Hill Forest Trail by IMK Architects is a 482-metre elevated walkway in South Mumbai, designed to provide public access while preserving one of the city’s last natural ecosystems. Raised on steel columns without felling trees, it promotes ecological balance, awareness, and urban eco-tourism through sustainable, sensitive design.

In the heart of South Mumbai, where density shapes the skyline and open land is scarce, the Malabar Hill Forest Trail by IMK Architects redefines the relationship between city and nature. Developed in collaboration with the Nepeansea Road Citizens’ Forum (NRCF) and supported by the JSW Foundation, the project offers a sensitive architectural response to one of Mumbai’s last remaining natural ecosystems. Conceived as an elevated wooden walkway extending for 482 metres, the trail enables citizens to engage with the forest without disturbing its fragile terrain, allowing access while ensuring protection.

Spread across twelve acres, the Malabar Hill Forest is home to diverse species of flora and fauna, from gulmohar and rain trees to hornbills and parakeets. Over time, this precious landscape had suffered neglect, facing erosion, encroachment, and the accumulation of urban debris. Rather than imposing a conventional development, the trail emerges as a sustainable intervention rooted in preservation. It is designed not as an act of construction, but as a restorative gesture that supports ecological balance while renewing public connection with the forest.

The walkway is raised on epoxy-coated steel columns and constructed without felling a single tree, allowing it to lightly traverse the forest floor. Its height varies between two and ten metres, responding organically to the site’s contours. A Merbau wood deck forms the walking surface, blending naturally with its surroundings and widening at intervals to create viewing decks and seating zones for pause and reflection. Carefully planned, warm concealed lighting ensures visitor safety while avoiding disruption to nocturnal wildlife. Low-impact pile foundations further safeguard the forest’s root systems and soil.

Accessed through restored stairways from Babulnath Temple and Hughes Road, the trail introduces essential public amenities including ticketing areas, rest points, and interpretive signage. These elements enrich the visitor experience while positioning the trail as an ecological classroom that fosters awareness of Mumbai’s natural heritage.

Inaugurated in March 2025, the Malabar Hill Forest Trail stands as a model for urban eco-tourism and conservation. It demonstrates that coexistence between city and forest is not a luxury, but a shared responsibility, showing how nature can be experienced with minimal environmental disturbance.