ITC STORII DEVASOM – THE WELLNESS RETREAT by Salient

The landscape design of Devasom – The Wellness Retreat exemplifies an immersive, biophilic, and spiritually responsive approach to site design. Here, landscape is not a passive backdrop but an active therapeutic medium—central to the retreat’s ethos of holistic wellness. Through a choreographed interplay of natural systems, cultural symbolism, and sensory cues, the landscape at Devasom seeks to heal, ground, and uplift. The result is not merely visual—it is a multisensory experience rooted in the rhythms of earth and spirit.

Landscape as a Healing Medium
At its core, Devasom’s landscape uses terrain, vegetation, water, light, and air to shape a continuum of healing experiences. Through multisensory sequencing, topography and planting guide visitors through zones of arrival, transition, and reflection. The site’s peninsular setting, embraced by a 5-acre lake, becomes an ecological edge where the built dissolves into the unbuilt, and human awareness reorients toward elemental presence.
Paths are meandering and subtly graded, guided by native vegetation and bioclimatic planting. Benches under canopy clusters or beside water edges serve not merely as rest points, but as invitations to pause and attune to nature’s tempo.

Courtyards as Climatic and Experiential Cores
A key gesture is the series of tropical courtyards—microclimatic lungs embedded within the architecture. Positioned for passive cooling, they act as thermal buffers, mitigating heat and regulating humidity. Verandas and apertures promote cross-ventilation, blurring indoor-outdoor boundaries.
Each courtyard becomes a sensory realm: terracotta-toned walls, sculptural water features, fragrant planting, and tactile surfaces create meditative spaces that shift with light, season, and time.

Water as a Multivalent Element
At Devasom, water is ecological, symbolic, and experiential:
• Reflecting pools and lily ponds offer evaporative cooling and reduce glare.
• Cascading water walls muffle mechanical noise, promoting stillness.
• Lotus basins along paths act as ritual anchors—symbols of purity and awakening.
• Underwater lighting is intentionally avoided to preserve moonlit reflections and nocturnal biodiversity—aligning with circadian health.

Planting Design and Biophilic Layers
Layered planting celebrates biophilic principles through texture, scent, and biodiversity. A tropical palette prioritizes native, low-maintenance species of high ecological and sensory value:
• Palms like betel and fishtail guide the eye and frame vistas.
• Understory layers of heliconia, ferns, spider lilies, and syzygium form tactile carpets inviting barefoot contact.
• Lotus and water lilies at edges enrich aquatic life and reinforce spiritual motifs.
Plantings frame views, soften transitions, and weave nature through all programmatic zones.

Materiality and Earth Integration
The material palette is rooted in local context—terracotta-hued stucco, lime plaster, natural stone, and clay-finished flooring echo the site’s earth tones, merging built form with terrain.
Hardscape-softscape integration is emphasized through permeable paving, vegetated joints, and rain-absorbing edges. Stone seating and cobbled transitions recall vernacular idioms while supporting contemporary ecological performance.

Night scaping and Illumination Ethos
The nightscape respects the sanctity of darkness. Lighting is subtle, symbolic, and sustainable:
• Low-height fixtures, echoing oil lamps, minimize light pollution.
• Focused lighting illuminates only pathways, vaulted ceilings, and water elements, preserving night-sky visibility.
• Warm LEDs (below 2200K) replicate firelight, fostering an atmosphere that is grounding and elevating.

Geomantic Planning and Vedic Principles
The masterplan subtly integrates Vastu Shastra principles. The site’s central axis is aligned to guide processional movement and draw energy, while cardinal directions inform building and open space placement.
Curved vaults and sloped roofs, inspired by vernacular forms, soften built mass, allow light to graze surfaces, and dissolve the boundaries between form and environment.

Sustainability and Passive Strategies
Devasom’s landscape reflects Indian minimalism and climatic intelligence:
• Passive cooling, daylight harvesting, and ventilated corridors lower energy use.
• Deep overhangs, semi-open verandas, and planted pergolas extend indoor-outdoor dialogue and enhance comfort.
• Bioswales, rain gardens, and vegetated channels manage stormwater and support groundwater recharge, ensuring long-term resilience.

Conclusion
At Devasom, landscape is not a frame—it is the very medium of wellness. It creates a dialogue between built and unbuilt, sensory and spiritual. Respecting sun, moon, and the textures of earth, it weaves stories through water, plant, and terrain. In doing so, it establishes a contemporary Indian landscape language—immersive, ritualistic, and restorative. Through ecological sensitivity and material honesty, it offers not just a retreat, but a sanctuary to heal, reflect, and reconnect with the self and the earth.

• All landscape architecture offices involved in the design of landscape:
Landscape design was done by Salient, from concept to completion.

• All architecture offices involved in the design: –
The architectural scope was handled in collaboration with Salient’s architecture division.

• Other credits:
Photography credits: Vivek Singh Rathore (Salient), Mohsin Taha (Mohsin Taha Photography), Subhajit Das (Wonder Aperture)
Interior Design: Salient, Kolkata

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