Spaces Vol 1 Is 6

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Shangri-La group, Daman Pradhan, tells the story of how these four young architects, fresh out of college approached them for an opportunity to work on the Pokhara project. It was a prestigious project and almost on a whim, the management allowed the foursome to make a presentation, never realizing that they would actually deliver what they wanted - but they did. In fact, Pradhan marvels at the fact that they did their research and came up with a design, mock up and all, in just three days. Their design worked, so did their enthusiasm, and so Shangri-La was theirs to work on. THE DESIGN During the design phase the team went off to villages in different parts of the Pokhara region and recorded architectural features of settlements and buildings from the surrounding areas. Based on this, they came up with a design they describe as ‘contemporary, with local inspirations’, and having ‘an organic approach’. Structures in this resort are not rigidly defined along standard 44 SEP-OCT 2005 SPACES
axis’s - rather, structures occur naturally, in a more loosely bound, or organic, pattern. This pattern they say was inspired by the way village settlements are laid out – and so the end result was a Shangri- La Village Resort. Shangri-La’s instructions had been to create a place that was warm and welcoming, giving a flavour of local architecture – while providing all the comforts of a deluxe resort of this category. Surrounding settlements around Pokhara like Birethati and Siklis were visited to draw inspiration from for the village concept. One of the designers even thought of creating a village based on the idyll of Gaulish villages featured in the Asterix and Obelix comics, which some readers may be familiar with! However, reflecting on local elements of design was their brief, and that is what the resort has finally incorporated. DETAILS AND FEATURES In fact, a lot of this village element at the resort is found in the details like the Maithili motifs on the walls, the lamp niches in the stone walls and the stone walls themselves. Typical Nepali villages in the region incorporate a lot of stone, straw and wood in their construction and these materials have also been used extensively in the resort to add to the village feel. Here, an essentially modern construction has been disguised to more or less give it a village veneer. The profile of the blocks with the guest rooms, backed up against the southwest perimeter of the property, has been deliberately broken up by creating a row of split level cottages with four sets of rooms each, with two more in the section joining the cottages. All of these blocks are shaped like a typical ‘matchbox’ Nepali house and have only two floors each. There are also a number of rooms in the southern corner of the property that seem to lie below ground level, an effect achieved by converting their combined flat roof area into a lawn. These rooms may remind guests of the flat roof design of the houses in Manang and the Mustang regions off north of the Pokhara valley. All of these rooms face the mountains to catch that priceless view - and every room comes with this view. The entire orientation of the resort has therefore been created with this view in mind. One of the most attractive features about the design of the resort is the way in which rooms seem to have so much privacy, an effect enhanced by the split levelling and the fact that no rooms face each other. The effect of Above: The entrance itself promises expansiveness within. Left: Split level designs have been incorporated adding to the independance of each room with regard to uninterrupted view. Right: One view of the resort that exemplifies the thoughtfulness towards the creation of an interesting landscape. SPACES SEP-OCT 2005 45
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Page 15 and 16: MASS HOUSING Thank you for a very i
Page 23 and 24: “When I was a kid, elders would a
Page 27 and 28: Emerald Pools SPACES SEP-OCT 2005 2
Page 29 and 30: figurines in a spiral arrangement (
Page 31 and 32: Text: Kathmandu Valley Preservation
Page 33 and 34: The restoration of Kal Bhairav was
Page 35 and 36: mortar. On removal of this cladding
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Page 47 and 48: unavoidable in most Pokhara images.
Page 49 and 50: Resort has 61 standard rooms, all o
Page 51 and 52: CRAFTS DRIFTING T O W A R D S FAME
Page 53 and 54: is?” No need to guess, it clearly
Page 57 and 58: HOTEL WITH A HISTORY Nov/Dec 2004 T
Page 59 and 60: JOURNEY THROUGH S P A C E S FLAUNTI
Page 63 and 64: INTERIOR Text: Sonia Gupta The wall
Page 65 and 66: colour all around. These lights are
Page 67 and 68: Sonia Text: A.B. Shrestha Sonia’s
Page 71 and 72: ARCHITECT ROBERT WEISE: Text: Kai W
Page 73 and 74: PROFILE§ Above: Royal Palace propo
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Page 91 and 92: Kathmandu Patan Bhaktapur ZONE A: S
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ACCESS BOON FOR HOUSING COLONIES Ma
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Picture framing is an art by itself
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SURFACE PREPARATION 7. Newly plaste
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TRANSITIONAL HICCUPS Courtesy: Dr.
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Oak Tree Celebrating The Grand open
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