Name: BACKPACKERS’ HOSTEL, PANCHGANI, INDIA

Built-up area: 660sqm + 525sqm of Developed Terrace Area

Description of Project:

The hostel for backpackers is situated near a hill station Panchgani, the strawberry capital of India in the Western Ghats of Maharashtra. Design has evolved in response to the need of backpackers for safe, comfortable and hygienic place to stay at scenic location. The guess profile, limited between 18 to 40 years of age, include the ones hitch hiking on a shoestring budget, the cyclists & bikers or the young working couples . Since its opening two years ago, this place has been re-visited by many, in different seasons for experiencing the sheer joy it offers through its design setting. With valley views and cascading outdoor spaces it remains a sought-after destination among millennial with average 90 percent occupancy.

Urban dis-connect is the purpose of this typology. Recognized as a social need, the design creates an environment amidst nature for young urban travellers seeking solitude, personal time with soulmates or to make new friends. Stories portrayed by the guests on the social media about their stay at this play convey sheer joy and happiness that they have experienced!

In the conventional sense of ‘Social Responsibility’ this place has drawn upon local skills and human resources for its making and continues to do so in operational phase by sourcing locally grown organic produce, training the rural youth and women to be part of the hospitality activities of this place. Architecture of this place has also encouraged local artists to integrate their art to narrate regional stories.

Materials of Construction details:

The conscious design approach was aimed at having least impact on local ecology. The unstable site slope of 1:3 gradient was held together by a tree or two at places but largely had to be retained by narrow terraces, much like the paddy fields along hill slopes, to create usable spaces in a stepped manner by using concrete walls in a folded profile. The used Dry Storage Containers (40’x8’X9’6”) were chosen as preferred material for this construction for its advantages. The long footprints of the containers were most suitable to be placed on the narrow terraces to be used as dormitory spaces. The structural properties of the shipping container were fully exploited to obtain maximum habitable spaces with minimum ground contact by precariously balancing another set of halved containers placed above, much like the Sherpa carries loads while negotiating the narrow traversing routes on the Himalayan slopes. Additional structural components were integrated to carry down the gravity and tension rods to hold back the cantilevered masses by using self-weight of the containers.

The design execution was split in two separate activities: off-site fabrication to modify containers into habitable objects and in-situ construction of retaining walls, toilets for dormitories and to lay networks for water supply, storm water and sewage. The logistics of moving containers from Pune to Panchgani and placing them precisely on the site was orchestrated based on pre-engineered drawings with precision by the team of consultants and contractors doing such a job for the first time! The habitable spaces are provided with mechanical,electrical and plumbing services with ease of operational maintenance and well integrated with the interior spaces designed to suit the guest aspirations. Most of the year guests prefer to enjoy the natural cross ventilation full of fresh air from the valley or simply being outdoors.
The spaces in between the containers, paved with rough kotah stone, are deliberately designed as landscaped open decks although the design brief from client had them listed as ‘function spaces’ and ‘passages’. These ‘unbuilt’ spaces in fact define the ‘built’ and provide flexible areas for variety of functions, community gatherings, traversing through the ‘built’ and are an inseparable part of the design.
These outdoor living rooms complement the bed rooms in the containers!

Special Features:

Choice of materials and colours camouflage these new objects in the landscape, except one, the red reception lounge box, as the Butea Monosperma or the ‘Flame-of-The-Forest’, with a striking cantilever diving into the valley.The design ideas have evolved from simple observations from the nature. The container boxes are poised as if they are keeping an inquisitive vigil over the valley and their surroundings, not to miss any drama created by clouds with the sunlight or a flock of birds flying by or the breeze gushing through the grass. In fact, one can see a striking similarity the way a family of Meerkats huddles together while alertly keeping vigil on the action around them!
Principally, the Backpacker’s Hostel is an inventive, rational bringing together of landscape and industrial language to create a joyful environment that resonates with travellers, and an innovative response to a difficult context.

Up-cycling of used shipping containers is the highlight of this newfound modern architectural idiom, a new GREEN, which suits the culture of its own typology. It is a replicable prototype yet rooted in its context.