Pushti Sanskar Dham Cottages
Principal Designer: Heval Dhudshia, Safiullah Ahmed, Ankurkumar Azad, Anant Mairal
Execution team: Pushti Sanskar Dham
Design team: Heval Dhudshia, Safiullah Ahmed, Harshal Chavan, Shanmuganathan
Location: Junagadh, Gujarat
This beloved project of ours was our first solo run into the world of independent practice. One of our own, Heval, on a visit to Junagadh to see his family, came across news in the local paper about the Pushti Sanskar Dham's plans to build a large pilgrimage centre with a school, yogashaala, administrative sector, apartments, gaushala, and more. He followed up with people around, found out more, and pitched Bayhauz to design parts of the campus in our style and design language. Three days later, the clients were in Auroville with Heval, and gave us the go-ahead to commence work. We were excited, and began by studying different community housing designs by B.V. Doshi and Charles Correa among others.
We debated the intricacies of village life versus contemporary design. What followed was a design process rooted in context and local materials, with Heval playing a strong local role in guiding client interactions and translating needs and aspirations—an exchange that enriched both sides. We designed four different cottage typologies and created a master plan with 25 cottages, kunds (amphitheatres), and interconnecting otlas (decks) spread over two acres. In addition, we designed an office and visitors' centre to guide guests within the campus and provide space for staff to manage daily activities. Materials were key: local fired slabs from Lalpur were reworked into masonry walls, and red soil from neighbouring regions was used for rammed earth walls nestled among them. We eventually erected walls in local Bela stone, which were plastered and framed under Sloped metal trussed roofs.
The tactility of these raw, locally sourced elements brought authenticity and honesty to the cottages. Designed as places of contemplation, rest, and meditation, the cottages use subdued colour tones and simple but strong local materials to create quiet, unfussy interiors.
