Ma+rs designs thatched wildlife retreat in India as "a quiet observer"

Indian studio Ma+rs has completed Serenity, a wildlife retreat in Tamil Nadu crowned by a cluster of thatched roofs intended to blend in with the distant Anamalai mountain range.

Nestled within a 1.6-hectare forested plot near the village of Sethumadai, the building is part of a wider project to transform the area into a wildlife corridor, giving over half of the site for elephants, leopards and bison to roam freely.

Ma+rs reused the stone plinth of a former building on the site to support the new steel-framed structure, which is designed to have as minimal an impact on the landscape as possible.

"Our core concept for the design was to create a built space that was a quiet observer – a building that did not impose itself on the landscape," principal architects Anisha Menon and Sabyasachi Routray told Dezeen.

"Rather, it honoured all that existed and created a permeable boundary where architecture and the wildlife corridor coexist peacefully without any conflict," they added.

The layout of Serenity comprises a two-storey L-shaped block of bedrooms to the south and a large, open terrace to the north, which is flanked by a courtyard and a small swimming pool.

Its steel framework is contrasted with the exposed stonework of the plinth below and the 25-centimetre-thick thatch of the roof above, which is formed of six individual pitched volumes topped by ventilation ducts.

Designed to mimic the distant Anamalai mountain range, this roof structure creates high ceilings for Serenity's terrace, while its large eaves shelter the bedroom balconies and a dedicated viewing platform on the first floor oriented towards the forest.

For the bedroom block, the steel frame has been infilled with brickwork coated in a yellowy shade of breathable lime plaster, polished to give it what Menon and Routray described as a "luminous sheen".

"Because of the 10-inch (25-centimetre) thatch and the way we've massed the structure, the roofline camouflages perfectly with the silhouettes of the Anamalai range," Menon and Routray said.

"This realisation, that the building recedes into the mountains rather than standing out against them was the ultimate validation of our original intent."

To the east of the site, a smaller, pavilion-like structure acts as an entrance pavilion, alongside a pizza oven and dedicated dining area.

Nearby, the site's wildlife area has been supported by the creation of two ponds, formed by channelling the site's water runoff.

Another wildlife retreat recently featured on Dezeen is Suyian Lodge in Kenya, designed by Michaelis Boyd, Nicholas Plewman Architects and Fox Browne Creative to feel "deeply integrated" with its site.

Other contemporary thatched-roof buildings include the Thread cultural centre in Senegal by Toshiko Mori and the Hata-Mazanka guesthouses in Ukraine by YOD Group.

The photography is by Studio f/8.

Project credits:

Architect: Ma+rs
Design team: Indulekha Paul, Sabyasachi Routray, Anisha Menon
Project direction: Regen Space
Landscape and ecological solutions: Oikos Ecological solutions
Material consultant: Wabi Plus
Furniture and lighting design: Studio Abelha

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