Landscape design
Landscaping that ties a building back to its ground and its setting.
What the studio does
Gardens, approaches and planted terraces are designed with the building rather than after it: the curving drive and lawns at Budlapara, the planted balconies in Mukundapur and New Alipore, the trees kept in front of the house at Chakgaria.
In a hot, wet climate the planting does real work: shade on a west wall, a lawn that drains after a monsoon storm, a courtyard that pulls air through a house.
Scope of work
- Site and garden layouts
- Planting plans
- Drives, paths and hard landscape
- Terrace and balcony gardens
- Drainage and water in the landscape
For
- Houses
- Apartment buildings
- Hotels, resorts and homestays
- Institutions
Projects
How a project runs
- Understand the briefConversations on site and in the studio about vision, use, purpose and budget.
- Scheme and moodScheme layouts drawn in AutoCAD, with mood boards for material and atmosphere.
- Visualise in 3DSketchUp and 3ds Max visualisations, so the client can walk through the design before it is built.
- Draw for siteSite-ready working drawings, and sanction drawings for the approving authority.
Questions clients ask
Does the studio design landscape on its own projects?
Yes. Landscape is drawn with the building, as at Budlapara, Mukundapur, New Alipore and Chakgaria.
Why design landscape with the building?
Because levels, drainage, shade and approach are fixed early. Planning them with the building costs less than fixing them afterwards.
Guides from the blog
- Biophilic design in Indian homes: what works beyond plants
Biophilic design connects a building's users with nature through light, views, air movement, natural materials and form, not only potted plants. The Terrapin Bright Green framework lists 14 patterns. The evidence for views and daylight is stronger than for plants cleaning air, and in the monsoon every pot tray is a mosquito risk.
Trends, - Courtyard house design for hot-humid India: plan, ventilation, small plots
A courtyard house plan works in hot-humid India mainly through shade, daylight and cross-ventilation, since the stack effect is weaker where days and nights are both warm. Keep the court shaded, openable on two sides and drained for monsoon rain. On a small city plot, a light well or double-height void can do the same job.
Design and styles, - Landscape design for homes and campuses in a monsoon climate
Kolkata gets about 1,713 mm of rain a year, around 75 per cent of it from June to September, so a landscape there is first a drainage design. West Bengal's 2007 municipal rules and KMC's 2009 rules put rainwater harvesting in the building plan, and New Town asks for unpaved green open space. IS 15658 sets paver block grades, and CBSE asks for a 929 sq m playground.
Design and styles, - Resort design in India's hills and tea regions: slope, drainage, approvals
In West Bengal's hill municipalities, rule 157 of the 2007 building rules asks for soil testing and a slope stability certificate on slopes of 30 degrees and above, and rule 167 limits cuts to 4, 6 or 8 m by soil. The state's 2026 homestay policy covers 1 to 8 rooms in rural areas, and larger resorts register under other accommodation categories.
Public and commercial, - Tea garden bungalow restoration and homestay conversion in Assam
Assam allows up to 5 per cent of a tea estate's land to be used for activities such as tea tourism, and a 2026 amendment Bill would extend this to leasing. A bungalow conversion also meets homestay rules, a Ministry of Tourism classification and heritage care. The studio converted a 96-year-old bungalow at Budlapara.
Heritage,
Start a conversation
Call +91 90079 36957, WhatsApp the studio, or send a few lines about the site and what you have in mind.