Project Description

The project transforms an abandoned site in Hazaribagh,Gojmohol into a healing space for women and children, inspired by the Chaharbagh garden layout. Once surrounded by the industrial tannery belt and dense informal housing, this negative space has been long neglected, becoming a void in the urban fabric. Its history layered with Mughal-era cultural richness, industrial decline, and recent regeneration efforts becomes the foundation for a spatial narrative of healing and renewal.

The design aims to reclaim this land as a sanctuary where play, contemplation, and community connection merge. Drawing from the Chaharbagh’s four-part division and central water axis, the plan organizes spaces into interconnected courtyards, playgrounds, and activity areas, symbolizing balance and restoration.

The programme includes open courtyards/parks, playgrounds, indoor play areas, breastfeeding rooms, walkways, prayer rooms, WC with changing facilities, and a café-lounge. These spaces are not only functional but also therapeutic, shaded walkways evoke the comfort of narrow Gojmohol lanes, warm earthy tones recall the site’s leather heritage, and green zones embody the city’s regeneration vision.

This healing transformation works on both physical and emotional levels:

* Physical: reclaiming and greening a toxic, unused space.

* Emotional: creating a safe, familiar-yet-inspiring environment where vulnerable communities can feel protected and empowered.

The key design idea lies in merging historical memory with contemporary healing needs a microcosm of nature and culture within the city, where the scars of the past become the fertile ground for hope.