2025 Finalist
Category - Conceptual Projects -> Architecture
Amol Divekar
Creative Yard
This 54-room forest resort integrates architecture seamlessly with the land’s natural slope, preserving trees, waterways, and habitat. Sky-lit spaces, terraces, and organic pathways immerse guests in the forest, while sustainability and conservation guide every decision, creating a luxurious retreat that celebrates nature, tranquility, and environmental stewardship.
Nestled within a heavily contoured slope, this 54-room forest resort is conceived as an immersive dialogue between architecture and nature. Prioritizing environmental conservation, the design preserves the land’s existing topography, trees, and waterways, ensuring minimal habitat disruption while providing a tranquil retreat for guests seeking a deep connection with the surrounding forest.
The resort’s layout flows organically with the natural slope, creating meandering pathways, layered terraces, and intimate courtyards that allow visitors to experience the forest from every vantage point. Each structure is positioned to maximize natural light, passive ventilation, and panoramic views, fostering a sense of continuity between indoor and outdoor spaces. Rather than imposing upon the landscape, architecture becomes a quiet companion to the terrain, where tree canopies, water bodies, and sunlight serve as central design elements.
The interiors extend the forest experience, incorporating sky-lit staircases, natural materials, and visual connections to the canopy above. Water, wood, and stone are thoughtfully layered to create tactile richness while reinforcing a sense of place rooted in the forest environment. Circulation routes double as immersive journeys, guiding guests through shaded walkways, tranquil pools, and open-air lounges, blurring the distinction between built form and nature.
Sustainability is embedded in every aspect of the design. Existing ecosystems are retained and enhanced, native flora is integrated into curated landscapes, and natural light and ventilation minimize energy consumption. Public and private spaces are carefully zoned to balance comfort with ecological responsibility, ensuring that guest experience and environmental preservation coexist harmoniously.
The result is more than a resort; it is a forest sanctuary. Guests move through a living landscape where architecture celebrates and enhances the environment rather than competing with it. Here, every moment—whether walking beneath a canopy, glimpsing a sun-dappled pond, or relaxing in a sky-lit room—becomes an intimate encounter with nature, offering a restorative escape that honors both luxury and ecological stewardship