YOGA NIKAYA RETREAT AND

BUILT UP AREA CITY

OBSERVATORY
SITE 25,000 SQ. FT NEAR BANGLORE, INDIA

Yoga Nikaya is a place of learning and teaching, for those who

share the spirit of yoga as a way of life. It provides space for
yoga and meditation. Cottages, dormitories and dining facilities
are provided. An observatory is also located as a place to view
the space above and learn about its scientific and spiritual
references.
The idea of yoga as a way of finding physical and mental well-being has
inspired a design that is in keeping with nature, through the choice of
materials, form and technique. Keeping a small footprint in the agricultural
land, the designed buildings are kept within 1.5 acres of the 9-acre farm,
leaving the rest as orchards and farmland. All buildings are given a place in
this site by digging into the ground or hugging earth around them. Between
the buildings flows a system of water swales that winds its way along the site
channelizing and percolating water into the ground and ending into recharge
well.
The entrance plaza is abutted by the reception, yoga, meditation and
performance. Each building sits comfortably in the landscape, with
lines of structure and form composed in gentle inspiration from yogic
postures of the human body - balanced but poised with a gesture of
movement. In addition, the buildings respond to the moderate tropical
climate of the region, situated on the natural terrain to receive daylight
from the north and south as well as the prevailing wind along the NE
and SW directions. The buildings are made with composite walls of
local stone and cement block , making it stronger to retain earth berms,
and making them better insulated for the summer heat. The roof
structure is a composite of steel and recycled wood rafters sits lightly
on the stone clad walls, lifted upward. The wood slat false ceiling is
also made from wood recovered from packaging boxes along with
thermal insulation. Much of the wood is recycled/reused from industrial
packaging available locally. The grey granite cladding stone is also
sourced from a quarry within 50 km from the site. Finishes are kept
basic - polished cement flooring, wood hand polished, rough hand-
dressed stone cladding on walls. The designed architecture and
landscape work with harmoniously with the existing site ecology.
https://architecture.live/yoga-nikaya-wellness-centre-bengaluru-by-mayapraxis/