The Dona Paula project was a layered intervention across four distinct zones: a front portion, poolside planters, a balcony, and a backyard — each with its own spatial logic, yet united through a cohesive plant palette and material language.
The client's brief centred on anthuriums, and these became the backbone of the design. Anthuriums earn their place not just ornamentally but ecologically — their long-lasting spathes require minimal intervention, they perform well in Goa's humid conditions, and their structured form holds its own against lush tropical growth without constant maintenance. [Add your specific reason here]
Alongside the anthuriums, the plant palette was deliberately oriented toward pollinator support. Native aboli (Crossandra infundibuliformis) and mussaenda were introduced for their proven ability to draw butterflies and bees — plants that work within Goa's ecological rhythms rather than against them, requiring less water and care once established while contributing meaningfully to the garden's biodiversity.
The backyard and balcony carried a quieter register, drawing loosely from Japanese spatial sensibility — restraint, purposeful negative space, and a preference for texture over abundance. This was reinforced through the use of existing granite on-site, reintegrated across zones to create material continuity. Repurposing what was already there — rather than introducing new hard landscaping — kept the contemporary tone intact and reduced waste.
A hand-carved Buddha sculpture was introduced as a focal point in the backyard, framed by bamboo and palms and set against the textured wall. Nestled at its base, terracotta pots planted with anthuriums complete the composition — the warm earth tones of the vessels echoing the stone of the sculpture. The dark granite channel edged with white pebbles grounds the arrangement, giving it the quiet deliberateness of a meditation alcove rather than a conventional garden corner.
As with all our sites, curry leaf (Murraya koenigii) and tulsi (Ocimum tenuiflorum) were incorporated into the backyard — planted in terracotta vessels that function as much as sculptural objects as they do planters. These are plants that carry cultural and sensory weight: aromatic, purposeful, deeply rooted in the everyday rhythms of an Indian home. Their presence ensures the garden is not merely ornamental but lived-in.
A small container pond was introduced as a finishing gesture. Planted with aquatic species and stocked with guppies, it has since become a self-sustaining micro-ecosystem, adding movement and sound to the space while serving as a modest but functioning habitat.
The result is a garden that is low-intervention by design, ecologically grounded, and visually consistent — contemporary in feel, but quietly alive.