Urban renewal in Delhi - Environmental development: Sunder Nursery
The project aimed to enhance and showcase the ecological and built heritage of the 90-acre Sunder Nursery. A nursery was originally established here in 1912 when the imperial Delhi complex was being planned for propagating and testing tree species from across India and overseas.
An important aim for the development was to creatively combine monuments, forest and nursery functions within one interactive experience. The landscape master plan aimed to create a major landscape space of truly urban scale, deriving inspiration from the traditional Indian concept of congruency between nature, garden and utility coupled with environmental conservation. The nursery also provides a major new green space for public recreation.
An arboretum exhibiting the flora of the Delhi region was a central objective of the landscape plan. This recreates various micro-habitat zones of the national capital region, showing the richness and versatility of the native or naturalised flora; these include kohi (hill), khadar (riverine), bangar (alluvial) and dabar (marshy) zones, which are all representative of Delhi’s fast disappearing biodiversity.
Aligned with the large entrance plaza of Humayun’s tomb, Sunder Nursery features a spectacular pedestrian Central Axis conceived in three parts, as a progression of formally arranged gardens around the heritage structures and merging at its end with the proposed arboretum and water gardens. The park also features mist chambers and dedicated public spaces for flower shows, exhibitions and cultural events.
