An Institutional space built for a State Government department, the 1,30,000 sqft project was initially intended for only official use. Studio Lotus suggested inserting a programme for a public space, which would allow for a significant part of the building facilities to be shared as a part of the social infrastructure of the city. <rt-red>As a result, the ground floor has been conceived as a free-glowing stilted area that connects to the pedestrian circulation from the street.<rt-red>

Designed as a passive-cooled structure with a night-purging ventilation system and a high thermal mass. The facade consists of a brick-louvred screen that acts as a solar shading device and expresses <rt-red>itself in the pattern of local weaves, its colours representing the geographical diversity of the region.<rt-red>

With the design team working closely with local consultants and craftsmen, the project promotes sensitisation to local materials and looks at new ways of integrating craft in a contemporary environment. The material palette uses a combination of exposed brick and local stones like laterite and <rt-red>khondolite; adapting local motifs to an unprecedented architectural scale, Krushi Bhawan emerges as an example of how the government can serve as a prime patron of regional crafts.<rt-red>

Creating a strong contextual identity, Krushi Bhawan imbues a beautiful regional narrative of local craftsmanship through handcrafted furniture, <rt-red>stone carvings bred from agricultural folklore and screens and installations in metal depicting local mythologies.<rt-red>