Springdale Heritage
2012
Springdale Heritage resort in Vandiperiyar offers a platform to be close to nature. The resort was an adaptive reuse of an old hotel building and a cinema theatre. Even though it was in the midst of the village of Vandiperiyar, the main aim of the design of the guestrooms and public building was to capture the visual grandeur of the Periyar river and the plantations. The resort design followed the architectural vocabulary of the hill stations much more than the traditional Kerala architecture. The public areas like the reception, restaurant, spa etc., were newly constructed because the number of rooms required was more.
The positioning of the chalets was designed to depict the organic movement within the villages with no straight paths. The movement throughout the site is an interplay of levels. The cottages are coming at five different levels and merge with the sloped terrain suiting the architecture of a hill station. The river forms a part of the tourists' stay, with rooms overlooking the gushing waters and a swimming pool with an adjacent gazebo where they may enjoy it close at hand.
The users can stay in heritage rooms in the old block, cottages or suites. The resort has small rooms overlooking the Vandiperiyar river. The light yellow walls, green coloured windows and gables, and use of timber and other natural materials make the little cottages feel more like estate bungalows. The restaurant on the first floor has large windows opening onto the view of the blue pool, the river and the mountains behind. Most landscaping was done using local plants that keep it seamlessly authentic with the surroundings.