Ziva - Elite Active Retirement Community

Overview

Ziva is an ownership-based retirement community set in a 16-acre verdant green site 55km outside the southern Indian metropolis of Chennai, next to the UNSECO-designated heritage town of Mahabalipuram. The name ZIVA is inspired by the ancient Sanskrit language verse that means, “Guest is God.” The project offers options for residential units, from bright and well-ventilated apartments to individual villas set in a landscape where the key idea is resort living.

The design brief is to create a rich green setting for senior citizens with the highest regard for quality of life, safety, and security in an exemplary landscaped environment with all features and facilities designed to make life memorable, effortless, safe, and secure. The design criteria were to create an eco-friendly, cost-effective, self-sufficient, and innovative campus with the right balance of built and green spaces of varying scales and diversity that would enhance the lives of the residents. It is an active retirement community that emphasizes health and well-being and is situated near nature, allowing residents to enjoy fresh air and greenery.

The design inspiration came from the rural landscape of Mahabalipuram, dotted with palm and fruit orchards. Built around an existing palm orchard, the design is about the efficiency and linearity generally present in productive landscapes. It made the landscape structure legible and circulation simpler and direct as many residents might have reduced mobility.

On a micro level, the concept was to add feature elements that add to comfort and safety, as well as a sense of community among the elderly residents. A linear corridor connecting the main residential blocks of phase 1called ZIVA Link is an all-weather walking corridor created for the residents to come to the club for breakfast, lunch, snacks, and dinner. The ZIVA axis further terminates in the oasis garden at the sacred bull sculpture. A project in which landscape and spirituality appear to blend seamlessly.

The location of the site next to Perumal Eri Lake and sensitive landscape edge treatment bring a sense of openness to the design and reconnect the project with its existing rich lakeside habitat. This sense of openness is a direct result of landscape-driven masterplan, where buildings are set to maximize existing views and take advantage of the cool prevailing winds from the lake.
 

Design Criteria

The first thing one experiences just after entering Ziva is the sense of a green refuge. This feeling gets more enthralling as one travels down this shaded green avenue with tall palm trees on either side, accompanied with an occasional teak. It is a journey crafted out of the existing palm orchard. As one travels further towards the club under the palm canopy, the panorama of the simmering surface of Perumal Eri unfolds itself with breath-taking beauty.

Located very next to the property is this magnificent waterbody, a visual extension to the site and contributes significantly to the setting and integration of the design with its rich context. Conceived as a contemplative space, the oasis garden is a beautifully crafted courtyard of great sensory delight and enrich the heart of Ziva apartment complex with vivid hues, rich textures and divine smells. Grand in inception, it is an interplay of strict geometric patterns imitating an intricately woven carpet that changes colour with season and renders a dramatic view for the apartment residents. Strategically placed between the indoor gym and the club lawn and Perumal Eri beyond, semi-indoor Ziva wellness pool acts a rich visual foreground for the gym and further connects itself with the outdoor landscape through a series of sliding glass doors. These doors not only bring plenty of natural light and cool breeze when open but help maintain comfortable water temperature during cooler months when closed.

Sustainability

Conservation of energy, optimization of resources, eco-friendliness, and state-of-the art technology were key factors in the design to ensure the least amount of downtime and reduce maintenance hassles. Every effort was made to design, layout, and install equipment in locations that tend to encourage routine preventive maintenance by providing easy access for operation personnel. Manual isolation is provided to enable servicing, expansion, or renovation of any part of the system without interrupting the services in adjacent areas. The primary hardscape material used in this project is natural stone considering not only aesthetics and the premium grade of the development but also the durability, ease of procurement and recycling properties. For the feature landscape elements local granite was used carved by local craftsmen in form of benches and sculpture. Green space was maximised and native and locally available planting was used. All existing trees onsite were retained or transplanted in order to mitigate habitat loss. Many medicinal. fruit and flowering trees were added to create a rich mix of vegetation. Due to the sensitive design approach the site now is home for many rare birds and bird watching has become a popular pastime for the retirees.

Though seasonal, lakes like Perumal Eri are a key feature of the bucolic landscape of this region and are great sources of fresh water. They are part of an intricate network of local hydrology and play a critical role in water preservation and ground water restoration.

Value

Ziva represents a benchmark for elderly community living and sets new standard for salutogenic landscape design with wellness and wellbeing at its heart. Set against the vast greenery the design far exceeds its original brief. With sensitive interventions the landscape has transformed itself into a series of unique experiences for the residents. From the green avenue, a favourite among Ziva residents for early morning walk to the lakeside garden and lawn adjacent to the club, which always remain cool and comfortable due to its proximity to adject Perumal Eri Lake, every part of site is catered to maximise usage and social interaction.

The wellness pool in the club building also has multiple usage. Apart from general swimming it is widely used for aqua therapy and other similar activities. The generous deck space around the pool is favourite with residents for waterside walks and yoga sessions.

Set away from the club and linked through an all-weather shaded walkway travels through orchard play lawn and outdoor exercise areas connecting the club with the oasis courtyard. Conceived as a contemplative space it is well used by the residents to read books or have a quiet conversation in one of the numerous reading and meeting pods that dot around the garden sheltered from the summer sun and the winter rain.