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Architecture

06-09-2025

The client expressed an intention to improve the experience of seeing, selecting, and selling Indian stones. The design extends this thought to showcase Indian stone as a material and element of art, architecture, and construction. The Triveni store, located on a corner plot in the Industrial Area of Mohali (adjacent to Chandigarh), reinterprets the region’s typical Marble market and plugs in experience galleries along with the sheltered spaces for stone stocking. The program creates a journey through the building and attempts to expand the visual contact with the stone’s versatility.

Being a corner plot, we freed the edges to keep a visually permeable boundary. The block is lifted from the ground level to allow a free-flowing space that hosts the stone stocks that are covered by a large projecting slab extending outwards from the block. The projected slab over the stilt space factors in the street scale and creates a comfortable shaded space for customers to select the stock. The slab rests on tree-like structural members that complement the linearity of the slab and the shell as a fun organic element. The display gallery and admin are within a stone shell, where the first floor hosts the reception, stone display, admin, and dining space, and the upper two floors have tile galleries.

Mohali,Punjab,India

Architects	:	Arch.Lab
Area	:	11,250 sq. ft.
Year of Completion	:	2022
Website	:	https://www.instagram.com/arch.lab/

Exterior view of Triveni – The Granite Studio by Arch.Lab

Product Display Area of Triveni – The Granite Studio by Arch.Lab

The access deliberates direction for the customers. The entrance has been emphasized through protruding steps in black granite against the yellow Jaisalmer stone. These lead the customers to the first floor as they acquaint themselves with the stone stocks on their right through a set of vertical stone louvers.

The gallery spaces act as a shell of regulated natural light. Keeping in mind to showcase stone in its possible application, there has been a critical balance of both natural daylight and artificial light. Stone louvers on the shell help regulate the sunlight ingress, and targeted track-mounted lights towards the central areas help achieve flexibility in display. Each floor also has large display stands and discussion tables to assemble stones and tiles and brainstorm mood board selections.

Reception area of Triveni – The Granite Studio by Arch.Lab

Passage to display gallery of Triveni – The Granite Studio by Arch.Lab

Display Gallery of Triveni – The Granite Studio by Arch.Lab

The building façade, the shell, therefore, becomes a monolith of a stone slab. The façade being of natural stone exudes longevity and evolution. The stone of the façade to cut the sun ingress but allow daylight is converted into louvres and clamped onto a metal skeleton. This modularity in the detail of louvers becomes a texture resembling the imagery of stocking of sliced stone slabs symbolic of their work, imbibing the culture and aesthetics in construction.

The architecture literally reflects the stone –as a display of stock and as a display of use- what’s inside is also outside. The building has been designed to be an exhibit itself, to etch the experience of stone, in stone.