<h5-red>CLIENT<h5-red> OGAAN I AREA 2,400 SQFT I <h5-red>STATUS<h5-red> COMPLETED IN 2014 I <h5-red>TEAM<h5-red> AMBRISH ARORA, ANKUR CHOKSI, ALINA VADERA I <h5-red>PHOTOGRAPHER<h5-red> TANUJ AHUJA I <h5-red>AWARDS<h5-red> MERIT IN RESTAURANTS, CAFES, PUBS & FOOD COURTS CATEGORY AT VM&RD RETAIL DESIGN AWARDS 2015
Amidst the hustle-bustle of new cafes constantly mushrooming in Hauz Khas village, the Studio was handed a decrepit rooftop with the brief to create a simple, coastal cuisine restaurant and bar as a value-add to the building renovation they were commissioned to do.
The concept for the contemporary adaptive re-use project carries forward the philosophy of the renovation—simplicity, modernity and attention to detail—with a focus on a handcrafted material palette. The restaurant was conceived as an insert over two floors, with the ground floor serving as a bar and the first floor as a restaurant designed as an enclosed veranda to open up to the outdoors in good weather. Architecturally, a courtyard was opened up in the middle of the building to bring light into the dark central bay and create lines of sight amongst various floors.
The building facade has been revamped through a series of painted brick arched openings. This language is taken ahead to the upper floors as arches in painted metal mesh that will eventually get covered with creepers planted on the terraces. Inspired by the timeless lightness of the coast, the interiors largely comprise white-painted stripped brick walls offset with some walls in accents of pastel shades of aqua and white in-situ cement terrazzo floors. This has been complemented with oiled teak, cane chairs and marble-topped tables.
Accents of cast-blown glass lamps and painted mild steel frames with teakwood ledges against the windows create warm, intimate settings. Both floors of the café have been connected by a compact staircase inspired by the form of a sea shell and custom built in milled iron and teak. Contemporary art put up in the café by young emerging artists has been specially commissioned by the owner to add colour and narrative to the otherwise neutral palette of the café.
<rt-red>VM&RD Retail Design Awards 2015<rt-red>
Restaurants, Cafes, Pubs & Food Courts Category Merit
