SIX SENSES FORT BARWARA RAJASTHAN

In the transformation of a historic 14th century fort-an erstwhile home of a Rajasthan royal family-into a luxury resort, native plants and indigenous materials play a pivotal role, redefining luxury with ecological sensitivity.

Site

The design of the resort reimagines the grandeur and splendor of a distant era, transporting guests back in time. Perched on a spur of the Aravalli, the 6-acre historic fort faces the Chauth ka Barwara temple. Within its fortified walls, two palaces and two temples stand as reminders of a rich legacy. The fort was once surrounded by subtropical dry deciduous forests that were then the hunting grounds for the Barwara royal family. Over the years, the landscape has undergone a stark transformation resulting into an arid and barren landscape. Over-exploitation resulted in the near disappearance of these forests, leaving the lake vulnerable to the impacts of a degraded catchment.

Design Brief and Concept

The vision for this project was to create a 48-suite luxury hotel, with the landscape design encompassing a range of public spaces such as arrival areas, the spa, pool, courtyards, gardens, and event spaces, extending to the private courtyards of the suites. The strategy involved both the adaptive reuse of four historic structures and the construction of a new guest suite block and ancillary buildings.

In the realm of luxury hospitality, landscapes often adopt a static state of perpetual lushness throughout the year. This tendency typically manifests in meticulously manicured settings, heavily reliant on water and dominated by exotic plants. The project challenges this conventional notion of luxury. Embracing native flora, showcasing indigenous materials, honoring local crafts and customs, and working within the constraints of the site’s resources, the endeavor aims to redefine the concept of opulent landscapes. This project was an opportunity for the design team to redefine this paradigm of luxury. It aspires to shift the idea of luxurious landscapes from manicured to responsive, exotic to ecologically appropriate, and static to dynamic.

The Water Narrative