Off The Grid - By Portal 92

Built in 2015, the site houses an experience centre and an office space designed for Mobel Grace.

Designed to be an experience center rather than a typical showroom, the built form plays with the traditional courtyard typology. The space was designed to allow various interactions of light and volume while providing least obstructions for flexible displays to change, adapt and grow overtime. The building consists of the display zone, two office spaces with common meeting areas and a small pantry.

From an approach that appears like two equal volumes, the visitor walks through the open elongated alleyway. Winding like a miniature maze, the streets offset the frames achieved traditionally through these passages while exposing the visitor to glimpses of the product displays on either side. The passage narrows down with beams overhead behaving as shading pergolas till they reach the courtyard deep within the experience center and office space. A Champa (Frangipani) tree crowns the court with a sitting ledge around it made from reclaimed wood used from the clients older properties. The same wood is used to clad selective columns in order to hide some retrofitted services and drain pipes. Reminiscent of streets in India with open drains, the outdoor spaces are lined with a pebble filled trench functioning as the rain water channel.

This project was conceptualized as an experiment to understand what it means to be inside or outside a built volume.