Biophilic Architecture & Interior inspired RETAIL Store. The semi-public space is designed to reduce carbon footprints and to design an energy-efficient Barrier Free building.
This assignment, a space retailing exotic wood and wood elements such as beautiful veneers, stands at the crossroads of retail design and the desire to rekindle and strengthen the bond with nature in its various forms. By constant experiment and reinvention — a fundamental credo at The Grid Architects — the design emerges from acknowledging the basic human urge to be in tune and touch with nature, and the fact that nature has formed an enduring design inspiration through the ages.
Every era finds its way to respond and adapt to nature while maintaining the humanistic identity and efficiency of built forms. This building, too, demonstrates striking biophilic design by integrating nature into the city and the architecture. By being energy-efficient, the built space contributes to sustainability as well as awakens an understanding of the vulnerability of the local ecology. However, in doing so, it does not veer away from its raison d’être — that of a retail center. Thus, the design also seeks to reinvigorate the customer's relationship with the material by transforming their approach to it through an experiential environment. "Thus, this center becomes a place of origin, a part of a story that is still unfolding because we are constantly experimenting with our developing culture and its symbiosis with the natural legacy,” state the architects.
The design was to be visually expressed as a clean, sinuous entity offering a customized and curated to-order service for a selected range of products of wood and carefully designed carpets. The aim was to reduce wastage by producing items only upon request and establishing relationships that connect people and nature through design.
The elevation uses organic materials that indicate the sense of rootedness and proximity to Mother Earth that is so integral to the narrative. Local sandstone plays the leading role in a line-up featuring wood and sand-faced plaster, orchestrated in a pleasing graphical manner. A monolithic material application of sand plaster bearing a debossed pattern of circles underscores the clean linearity of the structure. The architectural skin features large openings that blur the boundary between the interior and exterior, while also facilitating natural ventilation and sunlight. The southwest façade features a series of sandstone columns that help alleviate the heat of the region as well as filter the harsh sunlight in that direction. On the first floor, the long, metal-mesh shades of the porthole-like windows cast long shadows, creating an intriguing sciagraphy.
The architectural planning is starkly simple and influenced by natural forms. The internal linear volume is parcelled into a series of sequentially strung display halls, identified with the kind of retail that would be done at different points. The aesthetically pleasing and functional environment is shaped by the flow and the circulation the customers would take and is orchestrated such that the end user finds his way easily and experiences every part of the design.
Pockets of greenery and water are deftly woven into the built fabric, uniting the exterior and the interior so that they merge and coalesce visually, physically, and spiritually. These light- and greenery-filled volumes create spatial pauses and add a visual break for the customer. Sit-outs created throughout the retail space encourage social interactions and provide the visitor with multiple experiences and views.
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