KUMARAKOM RESORT By Morphogenesis

Luxury eco-resort retreat: In Kumarakom, Kerala. A boutique project in close proximity to the Arabian Sea, the objective was to offer an indulgent retreat experience of life amidst the backwaters.

For the built structures, the design borrows from local architectural references that have stood the test of environmental sustainability, creating a strong sense of place.

PRINCIPAL DETAIL		FACT BOX
PRINCIPAL ARCHITECT	Morphogenesis	BUILD AREA	1,50,000 Sq.Ft.
CIVIL CONTRACTOR	N/A	SITE AREA	40 acres
CLIENT	C & C Hotels Pvt. Ltd	DESIGN TEAM	Balaji Otra; Balthazar Sieders; Elis Mendoza; Sachi Gupta
LOCATION	Kumarakom	LANDSCAPE CONSULTANT	Morphogenesis
PRINCIPAL DETAIL		YEAR OF COMPLETION	Unbuilt
DESIGN CONSULTANT	Preeti Sastrawaha	PROJECT COST	N/A
CARPENTRY	N/A	PHOTOGRAPHY	Preeti Sastrawaha
STRUCTURAL CONSULTANT	N/A	TARGETED OVER TO FIT-OUTS	N/A
LANDSCAPE CONSULTANT	Morphogenesis
PROJECT NAME	Kumarakom Resort
MECHANICAL & ELECTRIC CONSULTANT	N/A
FAÇADE ENGINEERING	N/A
CONTRACTORS	N/A

The Kumarakom Resort is located in an ecologically sensitive region of Kerala kayal (backwaters). 

The site itself is a striated prawn farm with a 5M striation of water and land grafted onto a site which is in parts 1M below sea level and often partially flooded. The brief called for an eco tourism based luxury retreat with villas and spas. 

Morphogenesis approach to this design was to develop a master plan that changed very little in the land formation, to “touch the earth lightly”, quoting Glenn Murcutt. For the built structures, the design borrows from local architectural references that have stood the test of environmental sustainability, creating a strong sense of place. The topographical striations have been retained and the planning philosophy was to convert the waterways as the primary circulation route, to be navigated by boats. To have minimum intervention on the actual ground available, the buildings have all been placed on stilts, serving the dual purpose of flood mitigation. 

To optimally define the position of the villas required balancing functionality of highly serviced hospitality with accessibility. A rule-based parametric system was deployed. Conditions such as placement of nodes, vehicular routes connecting these nodes, the shortest pedestrian routes between them, placement of facilities and other criteria were fed into a script. The result was a master plan with interlocking movement systems of road, pathways and waterways linking the villa clusters whilst maintaining sufficient privacy for each resident.

 

Traditional references of the nalukettu form (traditional, matrilineal Kerala homestead) and the kettuvallam (houseboat) have informed the planning of the villas. The architecture of the nalukettu is typically a rectangular structure where four halls are joined together with a central courtyard open to the sky and roof slopes on four sides, protecting internal verandahs from rain and sun. This allows for a pleasant indoor-outdoor experience and mitigates the high temperatures to a reasonable level. The high humidity prevalent here needed to be addressed as well. The hyperbolic paraboloid form of the roof structure of the kettuvallam houseboat provided the solution and lent each built volume a distinct regional identity whilst enhancing the level of human comfort. This form accentuates wind speeds due to the Venturi effect thereby offsetting the humidity prominent in the region.

This unusual site and unique brief elicited a design response that is intrinsically rooted to the high specificity of the site topography, geography and immediate context, and aspires to visually engage with the end user’s imagination by creating a unique identity amidst a serene landscape.