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Interior

2021

Photographer : Atik Bheda

This project didn’t start with a blank slate. There was a century-old story already written at the site. An old house was remodeled a couple of times for each of its tenants and a year ago came into our sight as an abandoned building. Having identified it as a suitable space for a studio, we had to open up the internal walls to accommodate an open free-flowing space that has usable internal connections. All the fenestrations of the existing house were carefully removed and repositioned considering our usage and the context.

The house originally opened onto the street on the west side. Having identified an open space of the north side we decided to open up the main door on the north changing the entire dynamics of the internal spaces. Now, the original backyard of the house which was a neglected space changed to be the lucrative entrance to the studio also making it the informal outdoor waiting and discussion area.

The material palette is relatively homogeneous considering the utility of each space being varied. The entire flooring of the studio is hand-polished with pigmented oxide, but what’s interesting is that each room has a different pigment, from greys, and green to black, all connected with the continuous teak skirting balanced with stark white walls and rafters and ceilings painter white.

Belgaum,Karnataka,India

Architects	:	Shreyas Patil Architects
Area	:	85 sq.mt
Year	:	2021
Website	:	https://www.instagram.com/shreyaspatilarchitects/?hl=en

The lounger at the entrance room is a play of five cubes scooped out to serve as seating and teapoy units. The five can be arranged in various permutations. It is carpentered in plywood to make it light and movable and polished in cement finish giving it a sculptured monolith personality.

The nature of the rooms are crafted such that they all put together create a whole.

The room adjacent to the waiting room houses desks as work stations for Architects and interns, accented by a dark smoky blue wall punctured with old teak windows. The desks are placed in an informal manner considering circulation, light and ventilation. The desks are carpentered in teak veneer and plywood with fabricated legs in mild steel.

Overlooking the workstation is the Principal Architects workspace. The blue wall continues into this room. A fixed glass partition divides the two spaces letting the blue wall with teak windows stand out as a single element. One of the window niches is modified to accommodate shelves for the Architects library. A simple wooden table cantilevers out as the Architects desk is supported by a truss on the blue wall.

A conference room is positioned parallel to the Architects workspace. This room can be accessed directly from the waiting area too. A sliding door with a painted glass not only divides the conference from the pantry but also serves as a marker board for brain storming session and client meetings.

The key feature of the conference room is the centre table. A table top finished in white duco hovers over a stacked space framed structure made up of 6mm thick circular rods giving it sense of structural engineering and design put together to create a statement piece.

The pantry is placed right behind the conference room. A back door from this pantry connects to the courtyard on the front with the leather finished kadappa flooring and exposed concrete walls. The pantry also functions as a lunch room and model making room.

Located on a quiet street sandwiched with neighbour on the three sides, the only visible side of the building is the west side which brings in the westwards winds into the indoor spaces by a series of windows which are protected by a thin sheet of corten steel chajja’s suspended by twisted metal cables, protecting the teak windows from south west monsoons also adding a character to the elevation.

Along the northern end of the elevation is the only entry to this property. The entry is marked by the presence of a large metal door painted dark blue coupled with a tiny centre pivoted window. The window while kept open blures the threshold between the street and the courtyard. A temple tree is planted across the entry, as you walk through this entry along the courtyard a tiny jungle like garden is developed with bamboos, raphus palms, lilies, bougainvilleas and monsteras with a patch of lawn.

A caste in situ concrete bench is placed along the compound wall across a wooden bench with the combination of wooden and kadappa flooring. This space is shaded by pergolas that run from north to south casting dramatic shadows on the white stucco finished compound wall throughout the day. Not only does this space serves as a celebrated entry to the studio, But, it also performs as a space for informal discussions and tea breaks.

A set of kadappa stone fins are positioned at an angle to form louvers that get in light and ventilation and provide privacy from the neighbours. The same is used as louvers for the powder room which adds to the elevation of the building as seen from the courtyard.

The image of this place is an echo of the past character of the colonial building typology altered by modernist interventions to subtly accommodate an Architects studio.