Returning the garden to the city

The front facade of ITC Gardenia

Place: BENGALURU

It’s an effort to give the garden back to the Garden City. That’s the philosophy that ITC’s buzzworthy hotel in Bangalore, Gardenia, is run by. Small by the standards of some humungous hotels being built today, the 292-room Gardenia is on its way to make history as it is likely to become India’s first LEED (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design) Platinum hotel. It has already sent in its final submission to the Washington DC-based green building rating agency.

“An ‘eco responsible’ ethos is an inherent part of our system and in creating the ITC Royal Gardenia, the challenge was to see how luxury and responsibility could be in harmony together,” says Nakul Anand, Chief Executive, ITC Hotels Division. And the two are married. Your room has no obvious reminder to be eco-friendly, the processes are built in. “Which is why it took four instead of the planned two years to make the hotel,” reveals a member of the staff.

ITC has already achieved LEED certification for some of its earlier structures, including the Green Centre in Gurgaon and its hotel in Kolkata, Sonar Bangla, “which is the first green hotel that has been registered for CDM benefits,” says YC Deveshwar, Chairman ITC.

The vertical gardens at the hotel may have been a
bit forced due the size of the plot, the idea of the
gardens going vertical are a great draw

As eco-tourism is on the rise, in what could possibly be the norm for the future, right from the conception, extreme care has been taken to ensure eco-friendliness at the hotel, informs Vidya Prakash, Project Manager. The four-acre land, at a prime location in Bangalore, earlier had ITC staff quarters, a lush green space. While 48 trees were relocated, two trees came in for special attention. An old pipal tree was moved and another and a larger tree that could not be moved was incorporated into the design. When I visited during the final stages of construction, the tree had a protective covering. The original topsoil of the land was set aside and reused! 50% of the site area has been restored.

Water management at the hotel is an important component. While the existing subsoil water was used during construction, rainwater harvesting has been integral to the project. Water used in the basins is filtered, purified and recycled several times. There is 100% reduction of potable water usage for landscaping by using treated waste water and efficient irrigation systems. So water surplus is the hotel that it can provide its neighbour across the road, the Bangalore Club, with surplus water. Gardenia uses solar energy generated by six parabolic discs for all outdoor lighting, steam generation and hot water system. All cars are to be parked in the basement, avoiding the heat island effect. All of the wood used in the hotel has been sourced from the forests certified by the Forest Standing Council (FSC), meaning the wood is from forests specially grown for this purpose.

The naturally ventilated lobby - it has no AC, but the tunnel like
structure of the hotel keeps it permanently cool  

The use of natural light is maximised, with 79% of the spaces having a minimum daylight factor of 2%. CFL bulbs are used for lighting throughout the hotel while 90% of the building occupants are provided with individual lighting controls and 50% of the building occupants provided with thermal system controllability. Yes, those small touch screens provided in your rooms are not to be ignored. I did the first day, only to later figure out how fascinating they were in kind of controls they provided.

The green experience starts right from the moment you enter—there is no door to the entrance lobby. It is cold, and you almost want to request someone to turn down the AC, only to realise that there is no AC here. The wind funnel created by the capital H shape of the building keeps it cool. The most striking feature—the lobby has four huge vertical gardens—green panels of syngoniums and philodendrons. To save space, they are now on walls, in more than one location in the hotel. Prepared by Singapore-based RP Jickky of Tropical Environment, these are on a wall 90mm thick and are drip irrigated every other day for 15-20 minutes.

Gardenia does not compromise on luxury on any count. The restaurants, the spa, the pavilions all give the same experience as any other luxury hotel. Only you can indulge here, feeling comfortable that despite the luxurious stay, your carbon footprint is mininal.

Green rooms

ITC Gardenia rooms have many green practices built in. Discover:
* Double insulated windows reduce noise and heat, leading to less use of ACs.
* Efficient plumbing fictures and water limiters reduce water use
* The locks are RFID (radio frequency indicator) enabled.
* The JVD Minibar does not use CFC to cool.
* A multifunctional tool, InnCom can be used as a telephone, connect MPs players, regulate all electrical controls.
* Toiletries are eco-friendly.
* The bathrobes are made of organic cotton.