Case Study GH Hospitality Taj Hotels

5 Star Hotel leads the way to Sustainable Landscaping

One of the pioneers of luxury hospitality, found themselves at a crossroads, “How can we give our guests an experience of nature in the midst of a city centre with peaking pollution and unheeded urbanization?”

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Context

Urbanization brings with it a unique set of issues to humans, the environment, and all businesses alike.

Due to the rapid growth of the city, what was once an undisturbed view of the ‘Garden City’ and the old Bangalore charm, has become urbanized into highways, malls, business centers, and the metro line running past the hotel.

Hospitality, like other industries, has a responsibility to manage its impact on our planet and as such is expected to work in alignment with the UN’s Sustainable Development Goals.

Approach

Firefly’s holistic approach included enhancing aesthetics and customer experience while reducing air and noise pollution, conserving resources, and bringing down operational costs.

The Challenge

Poor air quality, insufficient water availability, high energy consumption and waste-disposal problems, are issues that come to light in the aftermath of urbanization. They get magnified with increasing population causing environmental degradation, loss of habitat for animals and ultimately impacting human health.

The 6500 sqft and 9200 sqft lawns that flanked the first floor of the hotel building had become casualties of urban development, and were in need of regeneration. For a healthy and welcoming guest-experience, a holistic, environmentally sensitive and protective ambience had to be created within the lawns.

The Opportunity for Change

Sustainable landscaping involves enhancing the aesthetics of a space while simultaneously creating positive impact through conserving energy and water, improving air and water quality, and enabling a habitat for local flora and fauna.

Individuals and corporations globally are prioritizing sustainability in travel. This rise in trend is an additional motivation for the hotel industry to provide services that conserve resources, reduce pollution and create positive environmental impact while retaining excellence in their hospitality services, and value for their stakeholders.

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Our Solutions

In pursuit of a unique guest-experience, the collaborative vision of Firefly and the client, paved the way for sustainable development while ensuring spectacular landscapes amidst a buzzing Bangalore-cityscape.

Strategic Aesthetic Design

Dramatic entrances, trellised plants, breezy palms and sequentially flowering plants to curate the view of the city’s Trinity Circle & MG Road blocking out traffic noise and pollution providing privacy and peace to guests.

Water Drainage & Harvesting

Use of active and passive strategies for water drainage and water harvesting, such as special filtration media, a fishbone-type water harvesting structure, indigenous plants and lush lawns.

Reduced Capex and Operational Costs

Limited, local and simplistic resource use for hardscaped elements of the lawns drastically reduce costs of design execution and daily maintenance

Design Functionality

The lawns are ideal for both intimate and medium sized gatherings by day and night ensuring dynamic functionality and multiple use case scenarios.

Impact

Guest-Experience

The selection of trees, plants and lawn for the landscapes have been the biggest antidote to noise and air pollution, providing guests with privacy and a habitat for various fauna.

Property Value

Incorporating sustainable values as a core part of the brand has attracted more consumers with shared values, and acts as a venue to host intimate gatherings.