Ruderal is a multi-disciplinary site design studio based in Tbilisi, Georgia. Ruderal designs and develops sustainable site projects where engineering, ecology, culture, and history harmonize with the surrounding context. Ruderal partners with municipalities, institutions, community groups, and private developers in Georgia to guide the design and planning process, from concept to construction supervision. 

Sarah Cowles founded Ruderal in 2019 in Tbilisi to advance and apply best practices in sustainable design and ecologically sensitive development in the Republic of Georgia and the region. Ruderal’s Georgian-American studio team includes local experts in allied fields, including landscape architecture, site engineering, architecture, ecological planning and rehabilitation, heritage conservation, horticulture, rural development, public engagement, and urban design. Cowles holds an MLA from the Harvard Graduate School of Design (2005) and is a professional landscape architect with 15 years of experience designing and implementing landscape and urban projects in the United States and China.

Ruderal is designing a 17-hectare multi-functional ecological resort and boutique hotel in Bakurtiskhe, Kakheti, and the landscape for the new 4-star Bodbe Hotel in Sighnaghi, Kakheti. For over ten years, Cowles and her partners have worked in the Caucasus region on projects related to ecological rehabilitation, cultural landscape planning, heritage conservation, landscape architecture, and master planning, including the environmental restoration of the Kvirila River Gorge in Chiatura, the limestone quarries of Kavtiskhevi, and heritage conservation of the Borjomi-Bakuriani railway corridor.

Member: UN Global Compact | FIABCI

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