<h5-red>CLIENT:<h5-red> LEKHA & ANUPAM PODDAR I <h5-red>AREA:<h5-red> 20,000 SQ FT I <h5-red>STATUS:<h5-red> COMPLETED IN 2008 I <h5-red>TEAM:<h5-red> AMBRISH ARORA, ANKUR CHOKSI, ARUN KULLU, KANUPRIYA GOEL, MOHAMMED NAUSHAD I <h5-red>PHOTOGRAPHER:<h5-red> SHAILAN PARKER
The parallel brief for the architecture and interior design teams included cabins, meeting rooms and a sprawling open workspace; residing inside a flexible system at the upper level. A café and art gallery for the Devi Art Foundation comprised the public part at the lower level.
As the interior design team for Sirpur House, Studio Lotus was brought on board at the onset of the project when the architectural design, being developed by Aniket Bhagwat, was still evolving. <rt-red>This defined a highly integrated approach where the line between architecture and interiors was made to blur and the language became seamless.<rt-red> The scope of work spanned spatial planning, interior design and furniture design for the linear spaces within the two separate wings of the building, which are now linked together with metal bridges.
The interiors drew inspiration from the facade of corten steel, brick and concrete. <rt-red>The tactile narrative builds on the group’s context as one of the largest paper makers in the country, known for their coloured and textured papers.<rt-red> The atrium that spills through the entire side of a wing implies the influence of the “paper story” in its concept with paper rolls acting as the inspiration for the furniture that was crafted out of sandwiched plywood sheets to unfold as origami-like sculpted forms of sweeping planes of paper.
<rt-red>The internal construct was shaped as a neutral yet malleable canvas to the many functions and stunning art works it houses.<rt-red> The workspaces are kept stark with clean configurations that enhance the linearity of the space. <rt-red>Given the simplicity of the canvas, the richly-detailed material palette and furniture design add nuanced layers of textures to the workspaces.<rt-red> The contemporary art collection lends colour and character. The flooring of all the areas have been treated as vacuum dewatered floors to enhance their natural finish.
The cafe, which opens out from the reception and into the court, houses a trellis which is replicated on the diagonal skeleton of the building. Mirror and clear glass sandwiched with film have been used for the table tops. The Galleries have been configured in such a way so as to allow flexibility and adaptability in accordance with the changing shows. <rt-red>The end result is an effortless intermingling of the external and internal spaces of a structural system.<rt-red>
