A Contemporary Wada in the Wild: Jungle Homes Tadoba Reimagines Maharashtrian Architecture

Style Essentials Edit Team
Jan 1
3 min read

Set beside the Kolara Gate of the Tadoba-Andhari Tiger Reserve in Maharashtra, Jungle Homes Tadoba unfolds as a hospitality project shaped by cultural memory as much as by ecological sensitivity. Designed by Nashine Architects, the resort offers a contemporary interpretation of the traditional Maharashtrian wada, translating its spatial intelligence into a setting deeply attuned to forest, climate, and place.

The project emerged from a personal narrative. The clients, Maharashtrian themselves, owned an ancestral wada and shared a long-held concern that the architectural and cultural spirit of the region is rarely experienced today. Over years of conversation, this concern evolved into a clear brief: to envision a 24-room resort that would allow guests to inhabit the essence of Maharashtra rather than encounter it as a distant reference. The site, located at the edge of one of India’s most biodiverse forest landscapes, offered an opportunity to bridge heritage, ecology, and hospitality through architecture.

The design language is best described as vernacular hospitality. Rather than replicating historical forms, the project draws from the wada’s underlying principles, its spatial order, social logic, and climatic responsiveness. Cultural identity and sustainability operate together, with architecture mediating between the built environment and the surrounding forest. Locally sourced sandstone and reclaimed heritage wood form the foundation of the material palette, establishing a grounded, tactile expression of luxury rooted in context.

At the heart of the resort lies a central courtyard, directly inspired by the wada typology. Historically, this space functioned as both a social nucleus and a climatic moderator, and here it performs a similar role. Reception, restaurant, banquet hall, and kitchen are arranged around this open core, creating a sequence of open, semi-open, and enclosed spaces shaped by light, shade, and movement. The courtyard anchors daily activity while enabling natural ventilation and visual continuity across the main building.

Public and private zones are subtly separated through the introduction of an artificial lake that lies between the central structure and the guest cottages. This intervention maintains privacy without severing visual or environmental connections. It also responds directly to the region’s extreme climate, where summer temperatures can reach 48°C. Water conservation, passive cooling, and biodiversity protection informed every design decision, resulting in open planning, shaded corridors, cross-ventilation, and reduced reliance on mechanical systems.

Materiality plays a defining role throughout the resort. Sandstone, with its warm, earthy tones and rugged texture, allows the architecture to blend seamlessly with the forest landscape. Tandur stone flooring introduces contrast, while terracotta roofs and dark-stained timber reinforce the vernacular lineage. Interiors follow a restrained palette of terracotta reds, sandstone beiges, and deep browns. High ceilings and carved wooden columns lend spatial generosity, while handcrafted rattan furniture, custom lighting, and traditional joinery establish continuity across spaces.

Among the most meaningful aspects of the project is the integration of restored heritage wood salvaged from dilapidated wadas across Maharashtra. Doors, railings, and furniture pieces carry visible traces of time, embedding memory directly into the architecture. These elements are not treated as decorative artefacts but as functional components, giving each space an individual character rooted in continuity.

The ecological approach extends beyond architecture. Twin lakes were created by restoring existing natural water channels on site, transforming them into rainwater reservoirs and wildlife watering points. These lakes attract birds and animals while also acting as environmental buffers between public and private areas. In doing so, the project dissolves the boundary between built form and landscape, allowing architecture and ecology to operate as a single system.

Rather than treating the wada as a historical reference point, Jungle Homes Tadoba engages with its underlying intelligence, its response to climate, its organisation of space, and its relationship to everyday living. These principles are translated into a contemporary hospitality setting that remains deeply connected to its surroundings, creating an experience shaped as much by place and material as by cultural continuity.