Jetty Garden, Daman, by KTA + ARUR

Jetty Garden, Daman

The Nani Daman Jetty Garden site in Daman city is a corner plot of 4000 sq.m. near St. Jerome’s Fort, adjacent to an existing jetty flanked by a road and St Jerome’s to its east, and private property to the west. There are some 20 fully-grown trees dotted throughout the site. The site witnessed poorly planned spaces, incremental and unrelated landscape elements and sculptures, that over a period of time had made the park unutilized and derelict.

The opportunities the site offered included an exotic setting adjacent to a Portuguese Fort, flanked by colourful fishing boats along the waterfront and a vast expanse of views – a perfect opportunity to re-create public loci where the land meets the sea and sky. This distinct brief led to a design investigation to create a public place that resonates with people’s aspirations and establishes a sense of reverence for the water, a multi-faceted space for all age groups, capturing the beautiful play of the southern sun in the vast ocean and a place to celebrate Narali Poornima boat race along the waterfront.

To this response, the first priority was to establish a pavilion on the cardinal axis that would become a focal point of an attraction along the waterfront and create a sense of shade and comfort along the south-facing promenade. The pavilion has to be lean, non-obstructive, multi-layered, and modular yet rhythmic capturing the stark sunlight and creating a possibility of spatial experience.

Post establishment of the pavilion the entrance spine was created as an extension of the street to the water edge. The entrance area is defined by an entrance frame canopy, a semi-open reading pavilion and public amenities. The sides of the entrance spine are designed with a kids’ play zone, senior citizens’ corner and larger landscaped areas. These spaces are integrated around existing mature trees.

Care is taken in detailing the garden areas with ramps, low-height walls for better transparency and active edges along the street, response to the fort wall with steps in form of an amphitheatre, tapering compound wall and selection of material that camouflage with darker shades of the fort.

The materials used include galvanized MS section structure cladded with Canadian wood in the pavilion, darker shade granite flooring, Kota stone flooring for seating zones and EPDM soft flooring for play areas.

The planting design intent was to enhance the site and not have it overly curated. Around 20 trees, including Pipal, Ashoka, Rubber Tree, Neem and Gulmohar, were preserved. The identification of these helped create a master layout, naturally segregating the garden into shaded and non-shaded areas. The planting design draws inspiration from native species with an added layer of colourful perennials to create an inviting experience year-round.

The new garden design aims to provide a welcoming street presence, a great public space, relation with water and sky along the promenade and an enhanced last urban park in the Nani Daman area.

Project Facts:

Project Type: Public Park
Location: Daman, India
Completion Year: 2020
Site Area: 4000 sq.m
Built-Up Area: 490 sq.m
Lead Architects: Hardik Pandit, Geeta Pandit
Structural Consultant: Rathi Consortium
MEPF Consultant: Greenbulb Design
Photo Credits: Karan Gajjar / The Space Tracing Company