Avasara Academy: Sustainable Institutional Landscape Design
See how we turned a large educational campus into a self-sustaining ecosystem where architecture and native nature thrive together.
The Avasara Academy campus during the monsoon is a testament to the power of long-term, sustainable landscape design. The greenery has completely taken over, creating a cool and shaded environment.
The building at Avasara is draped in a thick blanket of native creepers and flowering plants. My goal was to let nature reclaim the structure, turning the campus into a sanctuary.
A closer look at the living wall of the Avasara campus. The density of the foliage provides natural cooling and creates a beautiful, ever-changing facade throughout the seasons.
A student walks along a stone path at Avasara, flanked by mature trees and dense shrubbery. The pathways are designed to meander through the landscape, encouraging exploration and connection with nature.
Students at Avasara Academy using the landscaped grounds. The stone pathways and shaded areas were designed to be functional spaces for walking, gathering, and learning outside the classroom.
This pathway at Avasara leads up a flight of stairs flanked by local stone walls and tropical foliage. The design integrates the natural slope of the land, creating an immersive journey through the garden.
A view down one of the many shaded pathways at the academy. The dense planting of bamboo and other native trees creates a cool, green corridor that offers respite from the sun.
About this collection
The success of the Avasara Academy project lies in our 'grow over time' strategy rather than instant completion. By prioritizing native saplings and earth berms over fully mature trees, we allowed the landscape to adapt to the local soil and rainfall, creating a self-sustaining ecosystem that requires minimal intervention today.
Institutional spaces often face the challenge of large, hot concrete surfaces. Our design at Avasara tackled this by using permeable gravel paths and locally sourced stone, which allow rainwater to percolate into the ground rather than running off. We focused on passive cooling by strategically placing trees to shade walkways and building facades.
The vertical greening—using creepers to soften the architecture—is not just aesthetic; it acts as a living insulator. This approach turns a school campus into a green classroom where the plants themselves teach lessons about resilience and seasonality. We treat these projects as collaborations, working with local farmers to select vegetation that thrives without excessive water, ensuring the campus remains a cool sanctuary even during the driest months. Whether for a corporate campus or an educational institution, we design for longevity, allowing the landscape to mature and become more vibrant with every passing monsoon.
Hemali Landscape Studio
I believe that landscape design is about the relationship between the built structure and the land. At Avasara, I worked alongside architects and local farmers to ensure every plant serves a purpose, whether for shade or cooling. It gives me immense joy to visit now and see students studying in the cool, green corridors we helped create.
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