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2020 GFD 🏆 Awards

Winner: Godrej Riverhill by DADA Partners / Studio POD  / GPL Design Studio

A mixed-use waterfront neighbourhood that opens up to the city

RIVERHILL PUNE departs from typical privatized insular typology and instead proposes a bold new highly public open space system for the city – The RiverWalk. The design emerged from a fundamental vision to not generate a framework that was complicit in private retailing and waterfront experiences; as they structure an urban language of separation. Instead this nearly half-KM long public promenade has been carved out from primarily land that was allocated to private parcels 

Winner- Global Future Design Awards 2020
Firm | DADA Partners / Studio POD  / GPL Design Studio
Architect/Designer | Mukul Arora
Category | Urban Design Concept
Team | Mukul Arora, Anubhav Gupta, Jitesh Donga, Mansi Sahu, Sarfaraz Momin  Diksha Singh, Vanshika Bharaj
Country |India
Photographer/Copyright | ©Studio POD

©Studio POD

The RiverWalk acts as an urban landscape-device meaningfully connects the site with the Riverfront and the foothills onto the South. The pedestrian-first landscape elements of the Riverwalk and Riverfront act as the binding glue for the new development. A ribbon like design of the public realm accommodates and weaves the needs of pedestrian flows, creating ecological bio-swale bands; while provisioning for services. In terms of programming, the riverine ecology inspired RIVERWALK landscape is punctuated by informal markets, plazas, repurposed art installation and educative signage along its length. Further, the notion of the yet unseen riverfront is expressed through the design and material language of this unique spatial device. 

The chowk or the crossing is the center point of the RiverWalk and becomes the 24×7 social fulcrum of this new mixed-use town. It’s a Pivotal point in the township that rivets one’s gaze to the city spine and the hills above and the looming metal bridge over the river towards the north. Like a pin-wheel, the chowk is where all pedestrian routes converge.

Beyond the Chowk, River walk latches onto the 7.5 acre Central Park. This large outdoor room opens out to the river and helps pull the experience of the riverfront to all the precincts of the project. The park is programmed to not only cater to the neighborhood but also provides recreational space for the school as well as gathering spaces for the visitors. The built typology ensures that all edges along the park function as mixed-use edges and hence remain active and safe.

The Riverwalk terminates at the Mula Riverfront which is a collective experience of the Upper waterfront promenade, ecological floodplains and the rivers watershed.  Riverfronts Landscape design ensures a rich mix of multiple programmatic and open space elements, ensuring one single design principle: To provide a genuinely public, highly accessible, and amenatized waterfront edge for all residents of the city… Beyond this fundamental intent, the waterfront design also ensures a balance between the flood protection measures and yet creating a unique ecological playground for the residents The Heritage metal footbridge, iconic clubhouse and public marketplace act as the anchoring element for this waterfront. Series of steps or Ghats, provides direct access to the Lower river trail and the water-sheet.

The 9 million sqft development is based on softer principles of ; DIVERSITY, EASE OF MOBILITY, INFORMALITY, SUSTAINABILITY; that HELP CREATE HIGH QUALITY ENVIRONMENTS.. A Compact and socially diverse city where economic and social activities overlap and where communities are focused around neighbourhoods.