Architect and Interiors India June 2018 issue by Itp India

WPP license no. MR/TECH/WPP-79/NORTH/2018 License to post without prepayment Postal Registration No. MCN/101/2018-2020 Published on 5th of every month Posting date: 9th & 10th of every month Posted at Patrika Channel Sorting Office, Mumbai-400001 Registered with Registrar of Newspapers under RNI No. MAHENG/2009/33411

Inspiration and insight for architects and interior designers

Façades & fenestration

Total number of pages 86

Vol 10 | Issue 3 | `50 June 2018

Climate control for buildings

Contemporary bathrooms Energy and water conservation

GREEN, NATURALLY

WHEN VARUN KOHLI – PRINCIPAL AND SUSTAINABLE DESIGN LEADER AT HOK – WORKS ON A PROJECT, YOU CAN BE SURE IT IS ENVIRONMENT-FRIENDLY Published by ITP Media (India)

Jaipur - Mob No: +91-9205599032 Lucknow - Mob No.: +91-9205987316 Ghaziabad - Mob No: +91-9540220666

Mob No: +91-9038050951

Ahmedabad - Mob No: +91-7354113399 Indore - Mob No.: +91-9689911234 Surat - Mob No: +91-8460067404

Bengaluru - Mob No: +91-9845227298 Chennai - Mob No: +91-9205599020 Hyderabad - Mob No: +919848974897 Kochi - Mob No.: +91-9745601986 Vijaywada - Mob No.: +91-9205987310

EDITOR’S LETTER

LIVE AND LET LIVE

TODAY, MORE THAN EVER BEFORE, WE NEED TO REIN IN OUR USE OF THE LIMITED RESOURCES AT OUR DISPOSAL

With World Environment Day being celebrated all this month, it’s time to reiterate…yet again…a most important message that could help save energy and water so that future generations may live. Reduce, reuse, recycle, is a mantra that may sound jaded after all these years… but it is still relevant. Today, more than ever before, we need to rein in our use of the limited resources at our disposal. Technology helps us do that, as we see in the innovative products and designs featured between the covers of this special issue. Skin is in, where buildings are concerned today – for sustainability is driving product development and application in the façades sector. Keeping in mind a tropical climate like ours, perforated screens, automatic fins, horizontal louvers and ceramic fritted glass are apt solutions…as they all help in controlling solar glare, while permitting ample interaction across the interface. Our feature on façades and fenestration revolves around the building envelope that creates the indoor climate in an energy-efficient and, thus, sustainable manner. Naturally, our cover profile this month is about a green trailblazer for whom sustainable design is almost second nature. An expert in façade design and materials, Varun Kohli is making a world of difference to the environment through his work as principal and sustainable design leader at HOK’s New York office. It is fitting that we talk about the rapid strides made by technology related to bath fixtures, when we focus on water conservation in the context of our environment. Apart from turning to nature for design inspiration, faucet and sanitaryware companies are paying attention to eco-friendliness while developing new products. Smart toilets and water-saving faucets are preferred for clean and green bath spaces, along with personalised pre-sets with apps. All this goes hand-in-hand with efficiency, as there is no point in installing eco-friendly products that require more water or energy to use or maintain. Check out our spotlight on contemporary bathrooms for a flood of information on the trends and product innovations in this rejuvenating sector. While bathing is a pleasurable experience that’s geared to our hygiene too, maybe it’s time for us to die to superfluous desires – in order that humanity can live another day.

Maria Louis, Editor maria.louis@itp.com

ARCHITECT and INTERIORS INDIA | JUNE 2018 | www.architectandinteriorsindia.com

CONTENTS

JUNE 2018 VOLUME 10 ISSUE 03

PROFILE

Principal and sustainable design leader, HOK, Varun Kohli captains all the company’s forays into sustainability from the New York office. 32

FEATURE

Architectural façades are now playing an important role in the ‘greenness’ of a project. 42

CASE STUDY

Silpi Architects give a sense of identity to KNA Plaza with an eye-catching elevation. 46

PRODUCT SPOTLIGHT

Luxury and eco-friendliness are the main drivers of today’s bath products. 56

YOUNG DESIGNER

Arushi Bafna’s sustainable proposal for Koli settlements tops at Autodesk’s Buildsmart.

ROUNDTABLE

Expert opinion says biophilic design adds another dimension to a hospitality experience. 75

Cover: Varun Kohli, principal and sustainable design leader, HOK (pg22)

ARCHITECT and INTERIORS INDIA | JUNE 2018 | www.architectandinteriorsindia.com

SHOW REVIEW

A curated round-up of exciting new products from Salone del Mobile 2018, Milan. 84

BIG PICTURE

The sea plays a central role in artist Meera Devidayal’s recent exhibition at Chemould.

RAK Ceramics introduces GVT Collection of next gen, technically superior, Vitrified Floor Tiles inspired by Nature. This exquisite range of over 70 designs, in an expansive size of 1000 x 1000 mm will turn your home into a place of grace and beauty and make your senses come alive. It's strength and durability lets you beautify residential as well as commercial spaces. After all, some good things should last forever.

GVT Collection | DYNA CLASSIC WHITE | 1000 x 1000 mm

RAK Ceramics India Pvt. Ltd. 19th Floor, Commerz II, Oberoi Garden City, International Business Park, Mohan Gokhale Road, Goregaon-East, Mumbai-400 063, India. Tel.: +91 22 62505100/120 Website: www.rakceramics.com Toll Free: 1800 3070 6107

60-SECOND INTERVIEW

MANOJ RATHI, AVP AND HEAD, U&US HOME DESIGN STUDIO

Volume 10 | Issue 03 | June 2018 | `50 ITP Media (India) Pvt Ltd Notan Plaza, 3rd floor, 898 Turner Road Bandra (West), Mumbai – 400050, India T +91 22 6154 6000

Managing director S Saikumar Group publishing director Bibhor Srivastava

EDITORIAL Editor Maria Louis T +91 22 6154 6037 maria.louis@itp.com Contributors Carol Ferrao, Aruna Rathod, Rupali Sebastian

ADVERTISING Director Indrajeet Saoji T +91 93202 85997 indrajeet.saoji@itp.com South India Director Sanjay Bhan

The need for customised furniture has been met by the unorganised market for the longest time – until now. Through its technology-driven concept in furni furniture designing, Godrej is set to change the way the urban populace design their homes. The brand’s latest venture U&US Home Design Studio has positioned itself as “co-creators” – a unique collaboration platform for consumers looking to upgrade their space. With studios already launched in Bengaluru and Hyderabad, Manoj Rathi shares the genesis of the studio and where it is headed. What led to the start of U&US? Manoj Rathi: We carried out a systematic field research to understand concerns and issues faced while buying furniture. U&US Design Studio is a culmination of the findings of this research. Limited choices, high cost and durability were the issues plaguing the readymade furniture segments, while budget and time escalation, inconsistent quality and need for supervision were the pain points for carpentered furniture. A glaring issue was the working conditions of the carpenters. Use of primitive tools, lack of professionalism and limited understanding of design and ergonomics hampered their development. U&US addresses these issues.

T +91 98457 22377 sanjay.bhan@itp.com

STUDIO Head of design Milind Patil Senior designer Vinod Shinde Contributor Saili Bandre

PRODUCTION Deputy production manager Ramesh Kumar

CIRCULATION Distribution manager James D’Souza T +91 22 61546006 james.dsouza@itp.com

The publishers regret that they cannot accept liability for error or omissions contained in this publication, however caused. The opinions and views contained in this publication are not necessarily those of the publishers. Readers are advised to seek specialist advice before acting on information contained in this publication, which is provided for general use and may not be appropriate for the readers’ particular circumstances. The ownership of trademarks is acknowledged. No part of this

How does it work? Rathi: A specially designed software helps customer to visualise the space and work around the placement and aesthetics of the new furniture. What are the perks of creating customised furniture through this studio? Rathi: U&US has tie-ups with leading brands for raw materials and services, thereby offering a wide variety of materials and services under one roof. Our projects team takes care of planning and monitoring of entire on-site activities such as painting, electricals, carpentry, etc. The furniture comes with a one-year warranty and lifetime service support. What’s next for U&US? Rathi: We have plans for opening a studio at Thane [near Mumbai], which will be a unique concept that brings all the Godrej brands under one umbrella. In addition, our objective is to partner with customers and deliver predictable and unique solutions using technology in a big way. The whole customer experience will be now driven to the next level using VR and live gesture customisation, which has already been introduced at our Bengaluru studio.

ARCHITECT and INTERIORS INDIA | JUNE 2018 | www.architectandinteriorsindia.com

publication or any part of the contents thereof may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system or transmitted in any form without the permission of the publishers in writing. An exemption is hereby granted for extracts used for the purpose of fair review.

Printed and Published by Sai Kumar Shanmugam, Flat no 903, Building 47, NRI Colony, Phase – 2, Part -1, Sector 54, 56, 58, Nerul, Navi Mumbai 400706, on behalf of ITP Media (India) Pvt Ltd, printed at Indigo Press India Pvt. Ltd., Plot No. 1C / 716, Off Dadoji Konddeo Cross Road, Between Sussex and Retiwala Ind. Estate, Byculla (East), Mumbai-400 027, India, and published at ITP Media (India), Notan Plaza, 3rd Floor, 898, Turner Road, Bandra (West), Mumbai - 400050, India Editor: Maria Louis

To subscribe, please visit www.architectandinteriorsindia.com

Warm, natural & sustainable

ACCENTUATE THE

LINEAR

WoodWorks Grille Natural Bamboo

e-mail : helpdeskindia@armstrongceilings.com www.armstrongceilings.in

NEWS BITES

INDUSTRY DATA THE DECOR KART, an online home decor shop, launched its second brick-and-mortar store - this time at Galleria Market in Gurugram. Co-founder Natasha Kalra shared, “The store brings the brand to life in a new and exciting way with an edited curation of our best products.” The new store has a vintage feel that is distinct from the surrounding ambience. It offers a vast range of décor accessories like ceramic temple jars, vases, antiqued gold chalices, candelabras, garden stools, tabletop accents and more. Along with décor accents, you can find kitchenware ranging from ceramic blue and white tableware, celadon bowls, bone china bowls and porcelain tea sets.

Somany Ceramics strengthened its presence in NCR with the launch of a 6,000 sq-ft Somany Experience Centre in Noida, which showcases ceramic wall and floor tiles, polished vitrified tiles, glazed vitrified tiles, digital tiles, sanitaryware and bath fittings. MD Abhishek Somany said, “We are currently on the path of a well-strategised network expansion which will enable us to amplify our consumer touch points across the country.” The brand promises to continue its expansion in FY 2018-19 by opening 100+ franchisee showrooms and companyowned experience centres. AMBUJA CEMENT has become the first leading cement manufacturer to offer a masonry solution for the unorganised IHB (Individual Home Builders) segment. Launched in Raipur, Ambuja Plus Cool Walls with Heat Barrier Technology ensures 5°C temperature difference indoors. Made of aerated autoclaved concrete blocks, this stronger and less dense solution does not require curing — thereby saving water. MD & CEO Ajay Kapur said, ”Ambuja Plus Cool Walls reinforces our commitment towards products that deliver high strength and performance while strongly integrating sustainability traits.” ABAJ, known for its LED TV, is tapping into a new product segment with its new series of ACs that use inverter technology - an energy-efficient solution for the cooling market. Nirav Patel, MD, Abaj Group, said, “This product is in sync with our brand philosophy and endeavour to delight our customers with innovative and relevant technology while also being true to our loyalty towards the environment.” The new range comprises 3-star and 5-star ACs, available in 1 ton as well as 1.5 ton, with a defining characteristic of relatively-silent 55 db noise level from the outdoor unit. SYSKA LED is taking automation to new heights with its wifienabled smart lights that are compatible with Amazon Alexa. You can now set up routines such as ‘Alexa, start my day’ that will trigger multiple actions by Alexa – from switching on bedroom and bathroom lights to turning on the water heater. Syska Group’s executive director Gurumukh Uttamchandani said, “We want our customers to experience the best smart lighting solutions that are not only energy efficient, but also at par with the latest innovation.” The system also comes with a light grouping feature where you can club certain light units under one assigned name – for instance, by saying, ‘Alexa, switch on bedroom lights,’ all the bedroom lights can be switched on at one go.

ARCHITECT and INTERIORS INDIA | JUNE 2018 | www.architectandinteriorsindia.com

VISIONNAIRE, the Italian luxury furniture brand, unveiled their theme and direction for 2018 at Salone del Mobile in Milan, Italy. Synonymous with renewal and transformation, ‘Breath’ will be the driving narrative for their collection in 2018. Art director Eleonore Cavalli explained, “A luxurious collection, that no longer only coincides with the object of merit – but which finds shape in the multi-sensory atmosphere, in well-being, in imaginative strength and conviviality...” The creative direction is also inspired by the East, with nature symbolised extensively by bamboo. ABB’s new IVIE modular light switch range offers a flexible, future-proof solution. Using both wired and wireless automation, the range uses a grid system that integrates a combination of products of different dimensions and functionalities, together with ABB-free@home sensors. CP Vyas, head of Electrification Products, ABB India, said, “When creating this range, our ambition was to combine stylish design with smarter functionality that would… improve energy efficiency. We are (also) proud to support the Make in India initiative.” GREENLAM partnered, for the first time, with India Wood 2018 in Bengaluru, showcasing an exquisite range of decorative products from laminates, veneers, engineered door solutions to engineered wood floors. Saurabh Mittal, managing director and CEO, Greenlam Industries, said, “Platforms like India Wood give us the opportunity to showcase our finest decorative surfaces and highlight our advances in the industry. It also gives us a chance to share optimal standard practices with some of the world’s leading players in the décor and interior sector.”

NEWS & PEOPLE

Remembering the Vivek Punjabi design legacy through Visions Award

Members of the jury Yatin Patel, Sanjay Puri, Shilpa Punjabi and Zarir Mullan with one of the winners of the Vivek Punjabi Visions award. Young architecture students had an opportunity to not only showcase their skills, but also receive encouragement and support from the fraternity at the recently-held Vivek Punjabi Visions Award. Established in memory of Vivek Punjabi who launched one of the first 3D Rendering Studios in India called Visions,

this award seeks to inspire students towards a better representation of the designs they create in colleges. Punjabi is just the icon the students need to look up to; after all, he was a pioneer in this field, beginning to specialise in 3D visuals as early as 1996 – when design studios and architects in India had just begun to learn

software programmes like AutoCAD. Over 200 entries were judged by Shilpa Punjabi, Sanjay Puri, Sonali Bhagwati, Zarir Mullan, Gayathri Shetty and Yatin Patel. Kunal Bhoge from National Institute of Technology, Raipur, was adjudged the overall winner, bagging a trophy, certificate and cash prize of Rs.1,00,000. Runners-up Bharat Ahuja (Giani Zail Singh CCET College, Bhathinda) and Keshav Rathi (School of Architecture, IPS Academy, Indore) were awarded with Rs.40,000 and Rs.25,000 respectively. In addition, commendations were given to Shubham Majumder (Hindustan University, Chennai), Vimal John (RVS KVK School of Architecture, Trichy), and Mohammad Azhar (Gateway College of Architecture & Design, Sonipat). Puri stated that these awards will be held annually to celebrate the best 3D visualisation by students as well as to keep the memory of the late Vivek Punjabi alive. What made this gathering even more spectacular was the 2018 edition of Dialogues – an event curated by Puri himself – that was held alongside the awards ceremony. Held at the Taj Falaknuma Palace Hotel, Hyderabad, Dialogues saw 40 of the leading architecture and interior design firms in attendance. An exclusive event, it was conceptualised to create a synergy between India’s most well-known design firms and product companies that produce innovative design solutions.

Krsnaa Mehta and Dreamline take design to the masses

Manish Malhotra curates Alychymi for Hindware

Dreamline is making designer collections accessible to the masses. For its new collection of home furnishing, the brand collaborated with Krsnaa Mehta of India Circus. Hiru Thakurdas, head – Home Fashion, Future Group, said, “By associating with Mehta, Dreamline will enhance its range by offering special designer collections. The new assortment is extremely chic, sophisticated and made with great taste.” Inspired by the rich Indian heritage, the furnishings are adorned with traditional flora, animal patterns, motifs from Mughal royalty, iconic imagery such as the famous roadside cutting chai and many more. Mehta shared, “As a designer, it’s a feeling of great pride to see my designs reach each and every home through Big Bazaar.”

The world of bath products recently welcomed Alchymi, Hindware’s new super-premium line-up of bathroom suites that has been curated by none other than designer Manish Malhotra. Inspired by Hindware’s design philosophy of Flosense technology, Alchymi is an amalgamation of the finest materials, craftsmanship and best-inclass technology developed by Hindware Design Studio. You will find suites such as Poise that are inspired by iconic architecture, sharp edges and geometric design. It redefines bold with its modern approach to bathrooms – providing wall-mounted EWCs, washbasins, faucets and showers as jewels to adorn the space.

In terms of new technology, we have learned not to conserve resources...but just to build faster and quicker.” VINU DANIEL, PRINCIPAL, WALLMAKERS

A wall will always be a wall…but how we plan for its existence, and our inspiration behind it are what really matters.”

KARAN GROVER, PRINCIPAL, KGA

ARCHITECT and INTERIORS INDIA | JUNE 2018 | www.architectandinteriorsindia.com

Gifting people with the right to… experience creativity – this is the ultimate social purpose of architecture.”

CHRISTOPHER CHARLES BENNINGER, PRINCIPAL, CCBA

NEWS & PEOPLE

Jaquar’s quest for wellness aims higher

Jaquar is taking the home spa experience to new heights. Artize, the brand’s luxury bath brand, unveiled the breathtaking shower spa Rainjoy+ that is not just a shower – but a specialised water therapy. Combining the hydro flow design with the best aqua pressure and chromotherapy, Rainjoy+ is designed to provide soothing sensations and relaxation with every shower. With options as diverse as rain,

intense, massage and mist, the concealed overhead shower has multiple modes and showering concepts to suit the diverse needs of any wellness connoisseur. Mist spray, for instance, is created by forcing water through tiny outlets, resulting in a showering experience that can relieve stress, or can be best enjoyed during hot summers or after a workout. The massage option sends spiral columns of water milliseconds apart to create a drumming effect on the skin and muscles – promoting blood flow and reviving the body, similar to a massage. Artize Rainjoy+ comes in two models – oval and square – and features clean, aesthetic lines and an unobtrusive design. Both the styles use a largerthan-life size that aim to relax the muscles, restore calmness and repair the damage caused by the daily stress and strain of life.

Future as seen from the prism of WonderGlass Following a successful collaboration at the 2018 Salone del Mobile, WonderGlass and studiopluz has teamed up once again to present Kosmogonos — an exhibition that creates a world inspired by the wonders of the universe through the prism of glass. Running from May 23-June 23 as a part of the second edition of Design.Ve, which runs concurrently with the Biennale Architettura 2018 (Venice), Kosmogonos is a series of glass works inspired by deep space, and the emotions experienced while gazing at the night sky. Themes including gravity, utopia and geometry are explored through a range of works that incorporate the perfection of symmetry juxtaposed against the material inconsistency of glass. In addition, Horah,

Parinee’s Iconic win

CREDAI-MCHI’s Golden Pillar Awards – held in Worli (Mumbai), last month – recognised the upcoming project, Parinee I, as the Iconic Project of the Year in the Commercial category. Located in Andheri West, the project features a first-of-its-kind dichroic glass façade, automated car parking systems, serviced business centre, fully-furnished service apartments, professional editing/recording suites, preview theatres and other neverseen-before exclusivities in an office building. Vipul Shah, MD of the Parinee Group, gratefully expressed, “Our persistent hard work, dedication and the urge to create unique products has been given due recognition.”

JSAA redefines education

an installation of dancing lights designed by London-based Raw Edges, offers a convivial spectacle amidst the other exhibits. Housed within the iconic Venetian Church of Ospedaletto in association with Zuecca Projects, the exhibition is a must-visit to see how glass, sound and light are combined to create installations that question what the modern city will be like and how the universe can stimulate design.

We started our careers as a search. Slowness was our virtue. Today… solutions are instantly delivered. Where is the time for maturity?” SEN KAPADIA, FOUNDER, SEN KAPADIA ARCHITECT

ARCHITECT and INTERIORS INDIA | JUNE 2018 | www.architectandinteriorsindia.com

Sustainability has to stem from the very root of any design, rather than being superficial/ pastiche.”

TANUJA KANVINDE, PARTNER, KANVINDE RAI & CHOWDHURY

Jindal Global University (JGU) hopes to redefine education through its newlylaunched Jindal School of Arts and Architecture (JSAA). JSAA will offer the professional five-year program in architecture, and also BA (Honours) in Built Environment Studies – a three-year design program which is unique to India. Professor Thomas Mical, dean-designate, JSAA, underlined, “We have a brilliant opportunity to...transform architectural education in ways which are truly inclusive and interdisciplinary in nature.” Students can also opt from 16 prefigured minors or design their own minor.

These days, most architecture is limited to the visual - leading to atrophy of the other senses.”

MONA DOCTORPINGEL, PRINCIPAL, STUDIO NAQSHBANDI

ADVISORY BOARD

SOAPBOX

Dikshu C. Kukreja

Namita Singh

Sanjay Puri

Bo Boje Larsen

Karan Grover

Prof. Mustansir Dalvi

Niranjan Hiranandani

Manit Rastogi

Conrad Gonsalves

Sandeep Khosla

Jürgen Wolf

CN Raghvendra

Reza Kabul

BEYOND THE SUPERFICIAL

VARUN KOHLI Principal and sustainable design leader, HOK

THE SOAPBOX IS AN OPPORTUNITY FOR EACH OF OUR ADVISORY BOARD MEMBERS TO EXPRESS THEIR OPINION ON AN IMPORTANT INDUSTRY ISSUE. THIS MONTH, VARUN KOHLI TALKS ABOUT HARNESSING VERNACULAR DESIGN TO CREATE CONTEXTUAL ARCHITECTURE.

uilding skins represent the transitionary zone between external and internal environments, thus negotiating the dynamics of energy transfer continuously. They are also a primary medium of design expression and aesthetics. It is only through the convergence of performance and aesthetics that true ‘beauty’ can emerge. In the current context of emerging technologies, increasing performance goals and emphasis on occupant comfort and health, it is imperative that our design community re-examine the definition of aesthetics. We know that building skins contribute significantly to peak loads through various thermodynamic processes including conductive, convective and direct/indirect radiation transfers. The impact of building skin design is not limited to energy conservation – but also thermal, visual and overall environmental comfort of its occupants. Using an analytical process to address environmental issues, can a design response emerge that re-defines the notion of ‘design excellence’? Is there a ‘sustainable design style’ that integrates passive and active technological systems…as a unified design expression? Can the design community move beyond its obsessive visual seduction…and look beyond to its performance? “Energy and environmental effectiveness does not demand a stylistic response in architecture, but a more fundamental change in design approach,” – Vivian Loftness. This statement – in the context of a design studio – can be interpreted as a fundamental change in design process with incorporation of environmental analytics and its inseparable fusion to the final product, which may or may not have a resemblance to an architectural style. We know that, in recent trends of contemporary architecture, designers have mostly rejected association with any formal style and, in fact, have embraced a design language of differentiation – or ‘iconic’. While designing any architectural project, typically a number of pragmatic project requirements must be addressed and incorporated into the design process including; structural integrity, programmatic and spatial requirements; minimum threshold for occupant comfort; local building code; and zoning compliance, among others. Some of these requirements cannot be ignored for the dire consequences they will cause.

ARCHITECT and INTERIORS INDIA | JUNE 2018 | www.architectandinteriorsindia.com

The iconoclastic character of a design is mostly represented via its form and its ‘skin’. The moulding of such architectural forms and texturing of their skins is primarily in response to the designers’ vision of an aesthetic outcome. These design responses, in addition to achieving design intent, will likely achieve most pragmatic requirements listed above – but may not enhance the building’s energy and resource efficiency or impact comfort, health and well-being of its occupants.

DESIGN CLUES IN THE VERNACULAR For any climate zone, geographical location and cultural terrain, clues to architectural design responses are clearly evident in its vernacular. Although climate patterns have remained almost constant (at least, until recently), what has changed is the way building typologies have evolved in recent times. Now, a designer must understand the vernacular that responds to its contextual climate and culture – but reassign those principles to a building type that has never been part of the vernacular. I have found the process of assessing and applying vernacular principles to current-day building typologies particularly exciting with fulfilling responses. An office building project in Hyderabad, designed in 2008, was required to meet a minimum of 40,000sq-ft floor-plate – which was typically achieved for such buildings with a deep floor-plate. Such buildings used for IT-related work were typically found to be extremely inadequate in indoor environmental quality, including natural light and views. Even perimeter spaces were unable to take advantage of natural light due to poorly designed glazed façades that allow maximised radiation, thus forcing the use of internal shades. The project, however, looked at typical vernacular residential buildings in the region that were mostly courtyard buildings, porous and with large overhangs to mitigate solar radiation, enhance air-flow and create semi-outdoor spaces. Applying (this form) to a modern office facility helps create narrow floor-plates as well as self-shading to its façade surface. This was enhanced by morphing the building massing and articulating its façade. The resulting building was found not only to enhance internal daylighting and reduce solar gains, but there was also an overall reduction in energy use. A&I

PROFILE VARUN KOHLI

GREEN TRAILBLAZER

WHEN VARUN KOHLI, PRINCIPAL AND SUSTAINABLE DESIGN LEADER AT HOK, WORKS ON A PROJECT, YOU CAN BE SURE IT IS ECO-FRIENDLY BY MARIA LOUIS

1. Varun Kohli, a leading light in sustainable design.

s a principal and sustainable design leader based in HOK’s New York office, Varun Kohli leads global design projects and is responsible for all sustainable design and management efforts in the office. For the Kathmandu-bred architect, whose early conversations with his father prompted his interest in architecture, this must be a dream come true. “I had always been good at drawing and painting as a kid and, when my father once mentioned how he had always wanted to be an architect – but was never able to, it sparked my curiosity,” he recalls. “As a teenager, before migrating to the United States, I grew up in Nepal…but every time I travelled to Mumbai or Delhi, the tall buildings fascinated me. I remember a poster of New York City in my bedroom in Kathmandu, and I could never imagine how a dense urban city such as this worked. Little did I know that I would end up studying and practising architecture in New York – possibly the greatest city in the world.” Kohli’s professional journey has been a focused and sustained learning experience, right from the time he was a student. He did his Bachelor of Architecture at the City College of New York in 2003 after completing his Bachelor of Science in Architecture there in 1998, and then went on to do his Master of Science in Sustainable Environmental Design at the Architectural Association School of Architecture, London in 2006. “I have been fortunate enough to be a student of architecture in two extraordinary urban centres of the world – New York and London,” he acknowledges. “At the City College of New York, we were encouraged to use the city as our lab. Studying neighbourhoods of New York, designing projects at the cusp of Chinatown and Little Italy in Manhattan, understanding the immigrant community while being an immigrant myself, and having access to museums like MOMA and the Metropolitan, were part of our educational experience in the city.” In his final year undergraduate school, Kohli began to discover a passion for architecture that responded to its external environment and aimed to achieve spaces that enhanced human experience. “This was before sustainable design was at the forefront of architectural design, or even a buzzword,” he points out. “After a few years of working with New York City, I headed to the

ARCHITECT and INTERIORS INDIA | JUNE 2018 | www.architectandinteriorsindia.com

Architectural Association in London to pursue a graduate degree in Sustainable Environmental Design. Learning and researching building physics and analytics under the guidance of Simos Yannas (director of SED program at the AA) has since clearly formulated my approach to architecture and design. Every project I’m involved with must react and respond to its immediate environmental context as well as the needs of its inhabitants. Although I have been practising architecture for 20 years now, I don’t believe the learning stops. There’s always more… and it keeps things exciting.” Kohli believes that the most defining event in his professional development was probably the most conventional one – the focused environmental design education at the AA. “Design up until this point felt very arbitrary to me. Programmatic solutions, material applications and poetic compositions and form making of buildings felt a bit soul-less,” he explains. “A connection to and interaction with natural ecology and laws of nature provided a reason. To me, it gave purpose and soul to architecture. The stronger the built ecology embraces the natural ecology, the more successful architecture becomes.” In 2000, while working for Vollmer Associates in New York, Kohli was asked to go up to Albany and meet their city transportation department. “We were tasked to take over a small portion of the new train terminal being built for Amtrak in Rensselaer (across the Hudson river from Albany). The Rensselaer rail station ‘Passarelle’, as it came to be called, was the first significant project I took from conceptual design through construction,” he discloses. “Looking back, it was a simple and small project – but I realised then the power of every line drawn and how it came to life. I also learnt how every design went through its design and development life and it never ended up as you imagined; that the architect’s role was that of a composer and conductor; and that he/she must coordinate with the entire design team to ensure that the design intent is carried through to final construction.” Over the past decade or so, Kohli has worked on various projects around the world and done a significant amount of work in India. He is passionate about delivering quality projects and ensuring that they don’t transplant Western office buildings in the country. Before joining HOK, while he ran his own practice – Merge Studio – out of New York,

PROFILE VARUN KOHLI www.architectandinteriorsindia.com | JUNE 2018 | ARCHITECT and INTERIORS INDIA

PROFILE VARUN KOHLI

IN HIS OWN WORDS

Varun Kohli shares candid views on some salient features of his chosen profession Our times are turbulent, to say the least. There are two major disruptions impacting the normal development of mankind as I see it: the first is the pace of technological advancement, and the other is our impact on the climate. Both disruptions are changing and will continue to change the way we live, work and play. Although technological advancements such as automated vehicles is exciting, the impact of climate change can be devastating. Architects have a big role to play in designing structures that not only mitigate greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions, but also design for resiliency against rising seas and increasing weather events. Architecture as art Architecture is certainly a form of art, but it is so much more than just a visually seductive or iconic element. We inhabit and interact with it and, in return, it tells our story individually and collectively. It defines civilizations and cultures, geographically and historically. It speaks to a community’s aspirations and perhaps the architect’s interpretation and successful manifestation into physical form. In that spirit, I find the works of architects such as Louis Kahn immensely successful, engaging and enticing. I will never forget my visit to IIM Ahmedabad campus where Kahn’s buildings collectively convey a sense of harmony and serenity. The building forms, materiality, open spaces and natural ecology seem to come together in a perfect balance. Architecture is a balance of the arts, the sciences as well as the humanities. The design process for architecture can be intense, multipronged and detail oriented. We strive to create buildings that are efficient, intelligent, sustainable, beautiful, engaging and, most importantly, an environment of human enhancement - both physical and cognitive. Such goals are not easy to achieve and, again, an architect must conduct a diverse team of experts, provide the vision and lead the efforts.

2. Brigade WTC, Chennai. The HOK team has given an intelligent skin to this mixed-use development, involving profiles that minimise solar heat gains while ensuring vistas to the Bay of Bengal. 3. The renovation of 4 Times Square lobby - an HOK project for the Durst Organisation in New York revolved around simplifying the lobby and accentuating it with parametrically designed GFRG ceiling.

he designed an office complex at Karle Town Centre in Bengaluru. “The twin buildings we designed, carefully addressed occupant use and comfort,” he discloses. “The design of urban plazas .and pedestrian connections ensure pleasant outdoor spaces to congregate. Indoor spaces ensure ample natural light, while a self-shading façade also prevents direct radiation from penetrating into the space. During my last visit, my client informed me that the tenants are happy with lower energy bills. I must add that the West-facing sunset shot from between the two buildings is one of the most ‘Instagram’ed images out of Bangalore (Bengaluru).” Surfers Paradise Terminal Redevelopment Proposal (The 4217), Gold Coast, Australia, is also a Merge Studio project. This was a proposal along with local developers – presented to Gold Coast city council to rehabilitate the existing bus terminal, infuse it with retail, connect it to an adjacent park and re-clad the exterior to create a transit focused retail hub for the city. Another Merge Studio project is the Arihant HQ Building, Chennai – “a small jewel project design” for Arihant Foundations. “The building skin design was based on the concept of layers of skin that included, from outside-in a channel glass, an IGU with custom frit pattern and interior blinds behind. This layered approach with varying degrees of transparencies

ARCHITECT and INTERIORS INDIA | JUNE 2018 | www.architectandinteriorsindia.com

Iconic structures that inspire I’m not sure what iconic is. While at the AA back in 2005, I remember a panel discussion where Rem Koolhaas declared that ‘the non-iconic is the new iconic’. What inspires me are projects that are honest, bold and clear in their expression. Historically, apart from many of Louis Kahn’s works, I always refer back to Piano and Roger’s Pompidou Centre in Paris. Although driven by a desire to open up exhibition space, the building design embraced its utilitarian systems and displayed them as if they were ornamental elements. Also, Gordon Bunshaft’s National Commercial Bank in Riyadh is one I look back to. Bunshaft re-imagined what a Western modern office building should be in the climate and culture of Saudi Arabia. Shouldn’t we be doing the same when designing modern building typologies in the climate and culture of India? Role models and idols I don’t particularly have a role model architect, but perhaps one architect’s work and words I look up to is Louis Kahn’s. Quoting Kahn: “A great building must begin with the unmeasurable, must go through measurable means when it is being designed and, in the end, must be unmeasurable.” That quote is almost a mantra I follow in all of my projects. The measurable means can be interpreted in any which way, and I often think of that as environmental and other computational analytics we apply during the design process. Form or function? Architecture cannot and should not try to escape its utilitarian purpose. It is through its embracing of reality and of purpose that architecture can be closer to the truth. A sculptural form which disregards its utility, its purpose and its context is false and pretentious.

PROFILE VARUN KOHLI

deals with shading and daylight, as well as provides ventilation while buffering some noise pollution.” A recently-completed project is the renovation of 4 Times Square lobby – an HOK project for the Durst Organisation in New York – with team members Ken Drucker (design director at HOK), Nathan Hoofnagle (HOK) and Alan Stevenson (HOK). The design of the lobby is simplified all over and accentuated by a parametrically designed ceiling that uses GFRG to create 50 unique diamond-shaped panels that spread over the 10,000sq-ft lobby. “4 Times Square tower was one of the first commercial towers in Times Square in the 1990s that began the transformation of the neighbourhood,” Kohli points out. “The building owners were looking to revamp the building lobby in an effort to reposition the property for new tenants. Our team designed a lobby that connects 42nd street to 43rd street with

THE 4217 PHASE I

4. A team of young designers from HOK’s New York office, led by Kohli, proposed a biophilic design, centered around occupant health and wellbeing, for a recently-held façade design competition. An office in a tower in Brooklyn is fragmented to allow for natural ecology to co-exist in sync with its occupants.

clean homogeneous elements, and then adorned the complex curved ceiling with parametrically designed GFRG panels. The process for design and fabrication of the ceiling panels is entirely digital, where our 3D model was used by the fabricator to CNC the moulds that were used to cast the panels.” The HOK team has also recently finished the design for the Brigade WTC project in Chennai. This is a mixed-use development of over 2 million sq-ft with over a million sq-ft of SEZ office space, abutting OMR, the city’s new technology corridor. The office building façade is designed through a thorough analytical process, and the team members again include Ken Drucker, Nathan Hoofnagle and Alan Stevenson. “The project employs an intelligent skin where profiles are designed to mitigate solar heat gains while ensuring vistas to the Bay of Bengal,” informs Kohli, who recently led a team of

PROJECT FACTS PROJECT CREDITS Location: Gold Coast, Australia  Brett Jones Design (Planning Project area: 28,000sq-ft & Regulatory)  Odyssey Consulting (Structural) Status: Under construction

The existing Surfers Paradise Transit Centre in the heart of Gold Coast will go through a transformation. The existing 28,000sq-ft building will house a market with select providores offering local and organic produce and highlighting the local arts and crafts of the region. As part of Phase-I, Merge Studio has been commissioned to redesign the interiors of the terminal to accommodate new providores, two high-end restaurants, cafes and delis. The studio has re-designed the terminal interiors to highlight the existing features of the late ’90s building and bring a utilitarian, industrial and an honest design expression to the space. Additional mezzanine and bridges are Passive cooling strategies in the original proposed to allow for additional public space building will be re-introduced using crossas well as bring the building up to code for ventilation through operable windows and handicap accessibility.

ARCHITECT and INTERIORS INDIA | JUNE 2018 | www.architectandinteriorsindia.com

ceiling fans. All public spaces and most providore spaces are non-conditioned and passively cooled.

PROFILE VARUN KOHLI

young designers from the company’s New York office (team members: Apoorv Goyal, Sara Dionis, Shayna Cooper, Harsha Sharma, Donald Marmen, Alexander Nash, James Stawniczy) for a façade design competition. “The ideas competition was to design an office tower of the future,” he discloses. “We had a pretty successful entry with a design that fractured the architecture and brought natural elements back into its occupants’ lives. Our concept developed around occupant health and wellbeing. An office in a tower in Brooklyn is fragmented to allow for natural ecology to co-exist in sync with its occupants. Driven by biophilic design concepts, the building ensures a variety of spaces for its occupants.” Commenting on the rapid architectural transformation in India, Kohli is optimistic about the outcome. “At the onset of economic development in India starting in the late ‘90s, we saw a desire to create architecture that mimics the West, often with disregard to its context, use and even quality of materials and construction. The trend continued through most of 2000s, but we have seen a positive shift from the newer generation of designers who are embracing design response more rooted to local climate and culture and rejecting thoughtless re-transplanting of Western architecture.” While he is hopeful about the future, Kohli says he can understand the cynicism for some of the new architecture in Indian cities. “I recently started a new project in Gurgaon and, whilst looking at the context, realised how almost the entire city of Gurgaon is screaming to be noticed. The architecture is loud and the visual clutter can sometimes be hurtful to the eye. I recall Koolhaas – ‘the non-iconic is the new iconic’. I saw in Gurgaon that the elegance and simplicity of places such as the International Habitat Centre are mostly absent.” Kohli insists that architects should always be striving to design built environments that uplift the human spirit. “Our design community is now, more than ever, conscious of the impact a habitat has on its occupants and how better natural light, better air quality and removal of toxins can enhance its occupants’ physical and cognitive capabilities,” he observes. “We also know that strategies applied to enhanced indoor environmental quality have a direct correlation to energy consumption and can simultaneously address both.” Beyond ensuring that these ideas are inherent in his de-

signs, Kohli has been involved with various groups to further the agenda for environmental stewardship. Currently part of the AIA Committee on the Environment’s Advisory Group, he leads the research cluster where they are looking at ways to collect data on best performing projects more readily available for the design community in the USA and abroad. Although this may vary depending on geographic and climatic location, Kohli would love to see more terracotta products fabricated and further developed for use as external cladding in India. “The raw material for terracotta is primarily earth and, with the use of the right technology, terracotta can be a precision material with the right thermal properties for most of the Indian subcontinent,” he opines. “I am constantly looking at technological advancements in building skin design. We as architects have the biggest impact at the envelope level, be it aesthetic expression or energy balance. Of course, I speak of projects at a larger scale. Although we are able to design building skins with passive design strategies, additional integration of technologies is welcome. BIPVs, integrated fresh air intakes and solar chimneys are a few strategies and systems that are transforming the function of building skins beyond just protection from environmental elements.” In the past, the ‘green’ architect has taught studio courses at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute (RPI)’s graduate level programs. He has also taught seminar courses at Harvard GSD. Although he is not currently teaching any courses, he does attend final reviews of architecture students at several universities – thus playing the role of mentor to generation next. After two decades of being a green trailblazer, he would like to be remembered for the fact that his architecture “seeks the truth for its times, its context and its usefulness.” Kohli strives to make the design process more intelligent in every project that the HOK team takes on. “I push our design process to be more methodical, scientific, computational and based on relevant data. I believe that design aesthetics is an outcome of a smart design process coupled with care and thought for its final occupants,” he maintains. While he is hesitant to pick one project that he thinks is his best work, Kohli tries to ensure that every new project is better than the last. “By that logic, I think that the Karle Town Centre building complex is so far a good project at that scale.”

ARIHANT JASHN HQ Jashn, a Hindi/Urdu word for ‘celebration’, describes the mood of the project. The fivestorey, 30,000sq-ft building is designed to hold the headquarters of an established real-estate developer in the city of Chennai. The building will house marketing and executive offices and, in essence, become the home for the developers’ management group. Merge Studio developed a design that would demonstrate the design and construction capabilities of the clients and become the new home that the occupants can be proud of. Nestled in the heart of Chennai and at a corner of narrow tree-lined streets, the studio designed the shimmering ‘jewel box’ (as we like to call it) and clad it in shades of white transparency. Aware of the challenge of designing a

ARCHITECT and INTERIORS INDIA | JUNE 2018 | www.architectandinteriorsindia.com

PROJECT FACTS Location: Chennai, India Project area: 30,000sq-ft Status: Under construction

glazed ‘jewel box’ in the climate of Chennai, the design team ran multiple studies to understand the impact of solar radiation on the skin. Using layers of high-performance

PROJECT CREDITS Rajit Mhetras Design (Architect of Record)



glazing with ceramic frit and channel glass as exterior shading panels, the internal heat gain through the façade is now comparable with energy code compliant façade.

PROFILE VARUN KOHLI

KARLE TOWN CENTRE: HUB 1 & HUB 2 As part of a 3.6 million sq-ft SEZ development in the city of Bengaluru, the first tower of roughly 3,60,000sq-ft is now well under construction with the 12-storey (G+11) structure topped off. Merge Studio was engaged to lead the design of this speculative office building. A key feature of the project has been its façade, which is designed with passive environmental strategies to enhance the overall energy performance of the building. From the outset, three essential goals were established for the façade design: high performance, timeless aesthetics and efficient constructability. Merge Studio led the collaboration of an international team of consultants between New York, Bengaluru, Chennai and Mumbai, to deliver design and documentation for the façade, external and internal public spaces including the public plaza, main lobby, internal street and shared amenities in addition to peer reviewing and coordinating the building core and utility spaces. Sustainability: The project exemplifies the integration of performative analysis and design. The façade is designed with varying modules that strive to optimise solar shading,

5&6. This office complex at Karle Town Centre in Bengaluru - a Merge Studio project - integrates perfomative analysis and design. The modular façade optimises solar shading, daylighting and natural ventilation... resulting in reduced energy consumption and enhanced occupant comfort.

PROJECT FACTS Location: Bengaluru, India Project area: 3,60,000sq-ft Status: Under construction

PROJECT CREDITS CRN Architects & Engineers (Architect of Record, MEP, Structure) Billie Cohen Ltd (Landscape/Plaza)  Lumen Architecture (Lighting)  Environmental Design Solutions - EDS (Sustainability)  

ARCHITECT and INTERIORS INDIA | JUNE 2018 | www.architectandinteriorsindia.com

daylighting and natural ventilation strategies. The end result is a dynamic façade that excites the senses while responding to its micro-climate, minimising energy consumption and enhancing occupant comfort and experience. In addition to the façade, the building uses light and air openings for fresh air supply to AHU rooms and provides additional daylighting in office spaces. The project is aiming for LEED Gold certification with energy savings of approximately 22% over ASHRAE base case and 36% when compared to similar (non-compliant) office buildings in India. A&I

FEATURE FAÇADES & FENESTRATION

LIVING EXTERIORS 1

EFFICIENT AND VERSATILE, BUILDING SKINS HAVE BEEN EVOLVING AS INTERACTIVE AND SUSTAINABLE SURFACES BY CAROL FERRAO

1. Fundermax Max Compact Exterior (F Quality), a rainscreen cladding product as seen on Sattva Galleria, Bengaluru.

ore than an envelope, modern-day façades and fenestration are almost breathing, ‘living’ systems that make buildings more efficient and interactive. They have evolved from being a cosmetic addition to exteriors to being proactive in maintaining healthy, quality interior environments. While interesting forms still fascinate the design community, it is the functional significance of these shapes that are truly worth exploring. Materials – from wood, stone,

ARCHITECT and INTERIORS INDIA | JUNE 2018 | www.architectandinteriorsindia.com

porcelain, glass, metal to even polycarbonate – are becoming more adaptable to intelligent façade designs, giving architects the opportunity to design the most stunning building skin. But it is sustainability that is driving product development and application in this sector. “In the residential segment, the focus has shifted from luxury and high-end housing to affordable housing, which means cladding products on main façade will be minimum to keep the pricing low. Common areas and club houses are where cladding plays an important role in

FEATURE FAÇADES & FENESTRATION

2. Dr.Prashanth Reddy, MD India, FunderMax. 3. Designed to withstand the elements, this Fundermax rainscreen façade features a double hardened acrylic polyurethane resin which creates a powerful weatherprotective coating.

terms of durability, sustainability and minimum maintenance. In case of non-residential segments, there is increased need of having sustainable and energy-efficient buildings due to energy crisis in most of the Tier 1 cities,” states Dr.Prashanth Reddy MD India, FunderMax. In the near future, infrastructure projects such as airports and metro rail will also drive the demand substantially. Since change is the only constant, solution providers and innovators are being receptive to current needs and expectations. “The last few years have seen a very dynamic shift in the façade industry due to the various climatic changes, awareness and education about Green buildings, and more façade system companies have entered the Indian market. We are seeing many clients wanting to invest in the thermal break façade and window system, and use of high-performance glass in residential projects has increased,” says Ebrahim Chiniwala, owner, Chiniwalas. There is also the Indian context that needs to be taken into account. As architects, the team at Edifice Consultants recommend perforated screens, automatic fins, horizontal louvers and ceramic fritted glass – all help in controlling solar glare, while permitting ample interaction across the interface – as apt solutions for the country. “Spaces within campuses can be earmarked with bold colours and contextually relevant patterns; a strong consciousness of the environment has led to experimental designs to dabble in the use of shipping containers, paper rolls, glass bottles, ceramic and earthenware, and other recyclable materials on larger façades as well,” they further note. Earthy tones are also receiving much-needed appreciation when it comes to façades, and materials like clay tiles and engineered wood are ideal for the country. “While you might find clay tiles on the façade of India International Centre, Delhi, it is not an old intervention. The inclusion of information-based systems and compressed earth tiles have made the product durable. The tiles certainly add to the grain of the façade and regulate the amount of heat received inside. Similarly, engineered wood moves beyond the shortcomings of timber, to present a durable material that adds a rich and serene aesthetic value, and a sense of age,” shares Amit Khanna, principal, Amit Khanna Design Associates (AKDA).

ENVELOPED IN SUSTAINABILITY While it may be considered just a buzzword, sustainability has been a key determinant for a building’s façade system in

recent times. “To influence this trend, FunderMax provides rain screen façade system that improves building protection by enhancing functionality of façade with respect to heat and noise reduction, and better weather protection,” says Reddy. Improving the thermal efficiency of the building, through an effective façade design and highly functional fenestration system, is the primary goal. A well-designed façade reduces the thermal bridges, condensation of water vapour, protects the building and increases sustainability, Reddy explains. With glass still being a preferred – and in many instances, ideal – solution for most building skins, the adoption of energy-efficient glass becomes pertinent. With each passing year, solution providers like Saint Gobain are innovating their product line keeping sustainability in mind. “Saint Gobain offers high spectral selectivity (light-heat ratio) glass such as SGG Envision, a cutting-edge, double-silvered glass that allows abundant light transmission with advanced Solar Control and excellent thermal insulation (Low E) properties. Its functional layer of silver imparts the property of low emissivity, a basic need for excellent thermal insulation,” shares a Saint Gobain spokesperson. What makes SGG Envision even more interesting is that it is available in jumbo sizes that give façades larger, sleek, clear panes on the exterior. Schüco currently has solutions that meet the very demanding Passivhaus standards. Passive house (German: Passivhaus) is a rigorous, voluntary standard for energy efficiency in a building, which reduces the building’s ecological footprint. It results in ultra low-energy buildings that require little energy for space heating or cooling. “Though there are clients in India who demand the best possible sustainable solutions, the majority of the market is not in a position to pay for the increased costs. Also, because of the more temperate climates in India as well as lower energy costs compared to Western countries, clients don’t see a return on investment for these super insulated products,” explains Rajeev Antony, MD, Schüco India. The new solutions will focus on bringing down the cost of these super insulated products. “We are also focusing on creating more medium-insulation products for regions like the Americas, Middle East, India, China and South-East Asia,” adds Antony. Green solutions are going above and beyond protecting the interiors from the elements, now it’s also about optimising the solution to provide more. “The use of Building Photovoltaics (BIPVs) on the roof and the Southern and Western façade – which are most prone to solar glare – is on the rise,”

FEATURE FAÇADES & FENESTRATION

CASE STUDY: TESSELLATE Tessellate is nestled in Greater Noida, in the midst of an industrial hub allocated to the garment manufacturing business. Given that fabrics are about patterns and often repetitive, AKDA designed the façade as layers (another garment reference) to create a multiplicity of surface textures. Cool grey glass is combined with a gradation of blue, grey and white aluminium panels that seem to emerge with solidity from the ground, and eventually dissipate into the horizon. The exposed ends of the framework peek out from behind the top of the finished cladding, like the tassels of a carpet - proud of their necessity in the process. The name of the building is derived from the visual complexity of the façade. To tessellate is to repeat a pattern so as to create a plane. The unit chosen here is the triangle, the proportions so chosen for the ability to extract exactly four equal four-feet side pieces from a single 8ft x 4ft sheet. Apart from the longevity, the idea that material must not be wasted is a key component approach to sustainability. While the glass panels may appear randomly sprinkled, their positions are the result of interior daylighting requirements. The colours of the panels themselves have been chosen for better light absorption at lower levels, with higher levels of reflectivity closer to the top of the building. A tubular aluminium frame supported on robust metal brackets underpins the façade. Diagonal cross bracing support the glass and aluminium panels on the peripheries, creating the precise six sided joints.

mention Team Edifice. They explain that BIPVs are essentially a combination of semi-transparent photovoltaic cells called amorphous PVS and opaque photovoltaic cells called crystalline PVS, that are used extensively to generate electricity in-situ. It also addresses air quality– by facilitating a cleaner, healthier environment. 6

4. Designed by AKDA, the glass panels on Tessellate may appear randomly sprinkled, but their positions are the result of interior daylighting requirements. 5. Ebrahim Chiniwala picks The Louvre, Abu Dhabi, as an exemplary façade designs. The intricate dome façade filters light into the interiors, creating an ambience like no other. 6. Amit Khanna, principal, AKDA.

CONTEXTUAL CHALLENGES There is no dearth of specific solutions, clearly. But nevertheless there are some challenges that are peculiar to our country. Cost is always a factor in the Indian market and, apart from that, material durability is a factor, points out Khanna. “We are always in need of materials that look good in all weathers, do not break, do not stain, do not bloat, do not warp – because shock is a challenge, dust, rain and extreme sun are a challenge. Apart from durability, cultural orientation is another challenge. Some people want more visibility to the outside world, others do not. Affinity towards materials is also a personal factor that plays an important role in the definition of façades.” An architect or a façade designer faces conflicting priorities and interest between the different parameters of energy efficient and sustainable façades for buildings. For this, Reddy recommends a proper cost-benefit analysis – as well as payback analysis – on the right material and installation system when designing energy efficient façades that are also aesthetically superior. “High-pressure laminates at the rear ventilated façade

ARCHITECT and INTERIORS INDIA | JUNE 2018 | www.architectandinteriorsindia.com

offer an opportunity to architects and their clients to design and build iconic and contemporary buildings that showcase the creativity of architects and designers,” suggests Reddy. “Economic conditions, willingness to explore, and access to cutting-edge research/knowledge – all of these challenge the exploration of avant-garde façades and fenestration in India. Thus, one resorts to importing the best products. The escalation of costs which follows is another impediment,” points out Team Edifice. And when details are not well-integrated into the products, it results in poor application, installation and user experience.“While there is no dearth of top-of-the-line components and materials that can be used to design intelligent and efficient façades, clients are often unaware of these innovations. Given these factors, bringing in complexity in façade design – whether for aesthetic purposes, or utilitarian – becomes fairly challenging,” they add. Often people overlook the many benefits of a well-designed solution and are hesitant about the price. “The aluminium façade and fenestration industry is in the intermediate stage of growth in India...it is still growing. Challenges such as perceived notion (amongst end-users, developers) about price as compared to performance, standardisation in fabrication quality and set-up (for fabricators) are some of the challenges that the business faces,” says Antony. For architects, mitigating some of the challenges means looking closer home for solutions. “We do not see inclusion of vernacular details, and take-offs from vernacular techniques. Like compressed earth tiles and engineered wood are the composite materials replacing the natural ones; we also see that, here, the cultural as well as construction knowledge related to these materials has, time and again, been brought forth,” points out Khanna. There is a range of alternate materials and fringe construction practices that need to be made mainstream, which will bring diversity in façade design. It’s equally important to realise that not all façade and fenestration solutions can be sufficed by importing. “The Indian marketplace demands innovations of its own. We are looking

FEATURE FAÇADES & FENESTRATION

CASE STUDY: ASCENDAS VICTOR

7. Ascendas Victor by Edifice Consultants has staggered panels of coloured and clear performance glass that are stacked between concrete bands, indicating levels within the tower, reducing heat load and optimising resources. 8. Architect Amit Khanna picks Shanghai Theatre by Foster+Partners and Heatherwick Studio as an exemplary façade design. The moving, curtain-like façade adapts to the building’s function, revealing and concealing the interiors accordingly.

for materials which address the peculiar issues of the Indian climatic conditions like dust, moisture and rain and which will improve the longevity of products – and hence, buildings – while reducing maintenance costs,” say Team Edifice, adding that contextually applicable façade solutions need to find a wider applicability in India. They suggest easily operable low-cost sunshades and rain protection projections that can help designers avoid RCC chajja (canopy) projections on every opening and also lend dynamism to the façades.

For Ascendas Victor, a multi-tenanted building that is part of the 9-acre corporate infrastructure development, Edifice Consultants relied on an intelligent façade design to create sustainable built environments. The cuboidal form of the 14-storey building is aligned along the East-West axis, to maximise north lighting and reduce heat gain. To reduce heat load and optimise resource consumption, staggered panels of coloured and clear performance glass are stacked between concrete bands indicating levels within the tower. The panels are 1050mm wide each, factored from the typical width of raw glass sheets available to ensure minimal wastage. The façade - with 17.5mm-thick heat-strengthened DGU glass and 24mm-thick fritt glass panels arranged modularly - achieves 35-37% glazing, the optimal wall-window ratio. Paired with performance glass, this proportion of glazing ensures optimal diffused daylighting inside the building with minimal heat gain. With daylight penetration of up to 12-15m, the floorplates are uniformly lit from all sides, allowing for flexibility of function within. Being a multi-tenant building, leasability was a crucial factor - given that the offices would be Built-To-Suit (BTS), it was important that the ingress of daylight be largely consistent across each floor and each office within. The design of the façade takes this into account, and ensures a consistent wall-to-window ratio on each floor and across the grid. The use of blue-green laminated glass and orange frit glass further reduces the glare inside the office space, creating an ambient glow.

VIEW FROM THE FUTURE While designers and solution providers continue to navigate the unique challenges they face in the local context, the world of innovation will continue to charge forward.“The future of the façade industry is moving mostly towards sustainable façades. Going ahead in the future, we are seeing the trend shift towards more contemporary straight-line façades. And many architects have finally moved away from ACP (Aluminium Composite Panels) and are using other interesting materials like porcelain tiles, high-density laminate and many other

ARCHITECT and INTERIORS INDIA | JUNE 2018 | www.architectandinteriorsindia.com

new materials for cladding,” shares Chiniwala. From being inanimate to being truly “alive”, façade solutions will continue to transform the way exterior surfaces interact with the surroundings. “At one point, we might see prefabricated façades and, at another, we might see façades integrated with software to enhance their resilience to customer choices, moods and energy requirements; as well as capacity of interior spaces. So, façade designs that are operable are going to be in use increasingly,” predicts Khanna.

FEATURE FAÇADES & FENESTRATION

BEFORE

NEW PRODUCTS

9. Rajeev Antony, MD, Schüco India. 10. Saint-Gobain picks Monte Carlo, designed by Edifice, as an impressive façade. Full-height glass panels maximise the ingress of diffused lighting on the north, whereas the Southfacing side has a threedimensional façade made from electromagnetic glass panels. Inspired from the cut of diamonds, these panels form multi-faceted units that are arranged in a staggered grid to form a distinctive, shimmering façade. 11. Schüco India’s new thermally-insulated panoramic design series of sliding doors, called ASE 67 PD, enables an almost frameless design. 12. A before-and-after comparison that highlights the advantages and sleekness of Saint-Gobain’s Jumbo series.

AFTER

Interactive is definitely the key factor to watch out for. “Glasses that can be media vehicles, is the next generation of façades. In a scenario where energy efficiency and sustainability are considered to be the basic product offerings, this is anticipated to be the next area of interest. The modern cities across the globe have already begun on the journey of using façades as communication channels,” shares Saint-Gobain. This is being partly realised with Saint-Gobain’s PICTUREit, a glass publishing canvas wherein any image or vector file can be processed and printed for use in both indoor and outdoor applications. For the longest time, façade design has been obsessed with maximising glass areas – but new variations could be on the horizon. “It is possible that the focus on non-transparent façades as well as façades that change their transparency electronically come into vogue. With higher focus on sustainability, there should be increased focus on solar shading. We also expect new-age materials – fabric façades, for example, becoming more prominent. Windows, doors and sliders made from materials like glass-fibre reinforced plastics, as well as carbon fibre to achieve larger sizes and weights, is another interesting area. These are all areas that Schüco is already exploring,” mentions Antony. According to the team of architects at Edifice, the two developments that we can look forward to are 3D-printed façades and self-growing façades. With a great impact on the speed and ease of construction, and providing a scope for extreme scalability, 3D printing appears to be the next big paradigm in

ARCHITECT and INTERIORS INDIA | JUNE 2018 | www.architectandinteriorsindia.com

Saint-Gobain has invested in a manufacturing facility that makes high-performance glasses of size 3,210 x 6,000mm - which will allow faster construction and elegant façades that are cost-effective when compared to conventional solutions. With this size, architects can build façades that could look elegant in larger panels. The occupants of the buildings will find minimal interference from the framing elements, and enjoy an overall better view of the exteriors. Schüco India is launching a thermally-insulated panoramic design series of sliding doors called ASE 67 PD. Not only will the series enable larger sizes, sleeker profiles and premium looks, it will give an almost frameless design - a feature often desired by architects and discerning buyers. The new series will also perfectly complement their non-insulated panoramic series ASS 39 PD NI. Chiniwalas is in the process of developing and introducing an Australian-designed thermal break windows system that will be approved as per all AU standards. These windows improve energy efficiency by controlling the forms of heat transfer, which is achieved by separating the outside metal parts of the window from the inside with a material, reducing the amount of heat or cold transferred through the frames. façades and fenestration. Self-growing façades with algal or vegetative deposits assume the form of the underlying ‘skeleton’, and envelope the building over time. “Cost-effective and unique, with a tremendous impact on aesthetics and quality of air, this is bound to usher in some very distinctive projects in the near future,” the architects note. This is just the kind of promising, creative future to look forward to. A&I

LANDMARK BUILDING

CASE STUDY KNA PLAZA

KNA PLAZA, DESIGNED BY SILPI ARCHITECTS IN KERALA, STANDS OUT FOR TO ITS EYE-CATCHING FAÇADE BY MARIA LOUIS

t the intersection of two national highways – NH47 and NH49 – is a centre of attraction that’s getting eyeballs, thanks to its second skin. When Sebastian Jose, principal of Silpi Architects, first saw the location for the sevenstorey KNA Plaza that stands proudly there, he observed that it was a flat site devoid of any features or trees. No doubt one of the highways connects Kochi to Madurai and the other connects Salem to Kanyakumari, but the street itself was new and the neighbourhood plots were empty. “The client wanted a commercial building that utilised the maximum possible FSI. He also wanted it to be a building he could be proud of, being located at a prominent junction,” recalls the architect. Apart from the obvious functional benefits that the proposed retail plus office space offered, it had to be aspirational – indeed, a head turner in every sense of the word. In addition, the light and air had to be harnessed while avoiding the harshness of direct sunlight. From experience, the architect knew this challenge could only be resolved with a second skin to the building, and he evaluated materials like aluminium, glass, etc. The first three floors were for retail – so glass was ideal to facilitate display and window shopping. The floors above

ARCHITECT and INTERIORS INDIA | JUNE 2018 | www.architectandinteriorsindia.com

THE DESIGN CONCEPT The architect’s basic design idea for the project originated from the traditional Indian concept of the jali (screen) to optimise light and air, while avoiding direct glare. The location was such that the semicircular building would be exposed to tropical sunlight all through the day. The creative leap was finding a solution that exploits the advantages of the location for light and air, minus the harshness of direct sunlight. The colour palette chosen achieves a fine balance bold, to catch the attention of moving traffic and, yet, not impeding it. were for offices and, hence, privacy was important. FunderMax panels met the form-and-function needs, as they permit air and light in optimal measure. The combination of rich colours, cutting flexibility and all-weather robustness of the panels ensured that the architect could deliver the vision he had for the façade. “The commercial floors needed maximum visibility – which was given – and to respond to the harsh southern sunlight, we used double glazing,” discloses Jose. “Beyond the commercial

CASE STUDY KNA PLAZA 3

PROJECT DETAILS The project: KNA Plaza, Kundannur, Ernakulam The client: Lichen Builders, Ernakulam The architects: Silpi Architects, Ernakulam Area: 73,000sq-ft The cost: Rs.15 crore Duration of project: 2012-2018 Date of completion: April 2018

MATERIALS & SUPPLIERS Façade material: Max Exterior, Unicolor Decors Flooring: Simpolo and RAK, Kaitharan Buildware, Ernakulam Ceiling: Gypsum Board laminates, Arin Safety, Ernakulam Lighting: Havells, Gem Lights, Kalamassery Texture: Asian Paints, Karickal Hardwares, Vytila Paints: Nippon Paints, Jay Hardwares, Ernakulam Sanitary fittings: Kohler, Manumax, Edappally Stone paving: Planet Green pavers, Ernakulam floors , the office spaces needed flexibility of use – some don’t even use air-conditioning and even leave windows open. So, we worked out a system of screening using FunderMax louvers – which not only addressed the issue of natural ventilation and sun control, but also gave the building its distinctive identity. A good example of form follows function.” The architect wanted to use maximum FSI of 4 and the maximum allowed coverage of 50% at ground level. Parking requirements were fitted into two basements and one

rooftop parking. The ground floor commercial space was maximised by creating upper and lower ground floors, with the upper one accessible from NH47 and the lower one from NH49. Beyond two floors of commercial spaces, they provided six floors of office space with a separate lobby and atrium. “Tight space planning, which ensures maximum commercial value, is important for a commercial building,” points out Jose. “We believe we have achieved it.” Of course, there were challenges. Apart from space planning, which was the reason for the commercial success of the project, the tough part was working out the louver system for which different materials and systems were considered after a lot of analysis and studies – but as Jose puts it, “All buildings have challenges and, when one takes them up in a positive spirit, trying to come out with innovative and sensible solutions, the result is gratifying. We are happy with the way the project has turned out and the attention it is generating, but no creative effort is ever complete. It is an ongoing search and a process of learning. “ The final result, which he insists is a team effort between the client and architect, is a visual and architectural treat – a kaleidoscopic landmark. Being at the highway intersection and drawing attention from all sides, KNA Plaza emerges as a visually dynamic building, swathed in unique colours from every angle, at different times of the day. “We’re committed to innovative ideas, methods and technologies with the objective of coming up with the most functional solutions, while being complementary to the authentic environmental and natural facets of each project,” insists Jose. That is certainly evident in this innovative solution. A&I

1&3. KNA Plaza is a visually dynamic building, thanks to the architect’s vision and FunderMax panels. 2. Sebastian Jose, principal of Silpi Architects.

www.architectandinteriorsindia.com | JUNE 2018 | ARCHITECT and INTERIORS INDIA

PRESENTS

2018

DESIGN FORUM

22nd June, at Sahara Star, Mumbai ASSOCIATE PARTNER

WITNESS THE NEXT GENERATION OF INNOVATORS RECEIVING THE GREATEST HONOUR! GOLD PARTNERS

EXHIBIT PARTNERS

HOSPITALITY PARTNER

OFFICIAL MAGAZINE PARTNERS

AN EVENT BY

THE WHOâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;S WHO OF THE ARCHITECTURE AND DESIGN INDUSTRY OUR EMINENT SPEAKERS KEYNOTE SPEAKERS

YATIN PANDYA Principal Architect, Footprints E.A.R.T.H

KARL WADIA

Senior Associate, Architect Hafeez Contractor

PROF. CHRISTOPHER CHARLES BENNINGER

PREM NATH

JIMMY MISTRY

YATIN PATEL

Founder & Principal Architect, Prem Nath & Associates

Principal Designer & MD, Della Group

Founder Director, DSP Design Associates

NANDINI SAMPAT

KALHAN MATTOO

SHABBIR KANCHWALA

Founder Chairman and Principal Architect, CCBA

VIKRAM CHOUBAL

RAFIQ AZAM

ANUBHAV GUPTA

Vice President-South Asia, Marriott International Inc

Chief Design Officer, Head of CSR & Sustainability, Godrej Properties

HITEN SETHI

ABHISHEK MATHUR Director, Studio HBA

Founding Partner & Design Head, rat[LAB]

QUTUB MANDVIWALA

DARSHAN MEDHI

ABHIGYAN NEOGI

Founder & Architect, SHATOTTO architecture for green living

Director, Somaya & Kalappa Consultants

Principal Architect & Director, Planet 3 Studios Architecture

SUSHANT VERMA

SACHIN GOREGAOKER

Senior Vice President, K Raheja Corp

SPECIAL GUEST & ADDRESS

Founder & CEO, Hiten Sethi & Associates

Principal Architect & Director, GA Design

VIVEK GUPTA

Architect, AVA Design Studio

CLAUDIA DANELON Founder, Danelon Meroni Design Studio, London

Founder, MQA

SANJAY PURI

Founder & Principal Architect, DMA

Founding Principal Chromed Design Studio

PAVITRA SRIPRAKASH

Director and Chief Designer Shilpa Architects Planners Designers

ROHIT SURAJ

Founder & Creative Director Urban Zen

Principal Architect, SPA

FELICITATING THE TOP 50 YOUNG ARCHITECTS & INTERIOR DESIGNERS! For Conference & Speaker Enquiry Contact:

For Sponsorship Opportunities Contact:

Karishma Shah Head Projects & Sr. Conference Producer +91 9867874792 karishma.shah@itp.com

Bibhor Srivastava Group Publishing Director +91 98204 39239 bibhor@itp.com

Indrajeet Saoji Director +91 93202 85997 indrajeet.saoji@itp.com

Nidhi Bhardwaj Sponsorship Manager +91 84519 58719 nidhi.bhardwaj@itp.com

PRODUCT SPOTLIGHT CONTEMPORARY BATHROOMS

THE ULTIMATE WELLNESS ZONE

PREMIUM FINISHES AND TECHNOLOGY-DRIVEN PRODUCTS CREATE A LUXURIOUS BATHING EXPERIENCE, BUT RESOURCESAVING BATH FIXTURES ENSURE A CLEAR CONSCIENCE BY ARUNA RATHOD

L 1. Roca’s Alba series, inspired by light and nature, consists of a smart toilet, bathtub, washbasin and furniture.

uxury, serenity, clean lines, uncluttered spaces and modern design add the wow factor to a contemporary bathroom. It’s a look that has progressed over the years, leading to cutting-edge design for everything from faucet styles to tiles to bathtubs. To mark World Environment Day this month, however, we also draw attention to the importance of ecofriendly designs that use the precious – and limited – resource of water judiciously. Today, well designed bathrooms are aesthetic, durable and highly functional. Urban consumers are turning bathrooms into experiential wellness zones. The time and money spent on bathroom interiors and accessories has risen substantially over the past five years. “With bathrooms becoming extensions of people’s living spaces, shower enclosures, whirlpools and premium interiors are now garnering greater acceptance. Products

ARCHITECT and INTERIORS INDIA | JUNE 2018 | www.architectandinteriorsindia.com

with unique designs and technology innovations are trending this year,” informs Sandeep Shukla, head of Communications & Marketing, Jaquar Group.

PRIVATE SANCTUARIES Designs that are inspired from nature to infuse the space with a calming effect are becoming popular. With the design language of the shower, washbasin and the water closet matching the faucet, the bathing space has now transformed into an experience zone from its earlier utilitarian avatar. Individual comforts have taken bathrooms to a whole new level. From personal showers, spa-quality tubs, automated personalised water temperature modules, fancy finishes – the sky is the limit when it comes to personalising bathrooms. “Buyers want to inject their own personality into the bathroom with products and accessories. Statement mirrors, vanity lights,

PRODUCT SPOTLIGHT CONTEMPORARY BATHROOMS

candles, decorative planters and furniture provide that unique personalised touch that resonates luxury and opulence. Even art has found its way into the bathroom,” says KE Ranganathan, managing director, Roca Bathroom Products Pvt Ltd.

style. Another urban trend is that extra-large bathrooms are becoming smaller with efficient yet luxurious design. “Efficiently designed contemporary bathrooms feature a free-standing personal bathtub, cosy shower area, artistically designed vanity and a toilet against the backdrop of an aesthetic wall and floor. Patterned wall and graphicallydesigned floors are picking up, which makes the bathroom look bigger and more beautiful,” says Amit Shah, managing director, Classic Marble Company. Besides being aesthetically pleasing, well-designed bathrooms are easy to maintain. Large-size tiles and marble surfaces make a space look magnificent and are top-selling products in the luxury bathroom space. The products are eco-friendly, sustainable and, with regular maintenance, have a long lifespan.

SIMPLICITY RULES Personalisation and luxury aside, there is a discernible demand for minimalism. Rahul Kher, founder and director, Zalur Lifestyle, observes, “There is a clear trend towards minimalism and it’s gaining great momentum now in India, as well. Being minimal within contemporary bathrooms means stripping all the superfluous components and leaving only the essentials. It’s an approach where one needs to decide what to put in and what to leave out, for the maximum function and impact. Minimalism is all about delivering a certain experience, uncluttered and simplified design language which is easy to understand and great on functionality.” Echoing this view, Shukla also elaborates on the design ‘simplification’ of the products. “People are moving towards simple, cleaner and more contemporary designs – hence products with cleaner lines and a minimalist modern vibe are preferred,” he says.

MAXIMIZING EFFICIENCY Contemporary bathrooms have their own unique aura and

CHIC YET SUSTAINABLE Besides turning to nature for design inspiration, companies are increasingly recognising eco-friendliness as a key property while developing products. For green and high-tech homes, smart toilets and water-saving faucets are becoming the preferred choice for consumers, evident through Bluetooth and other tech-led features in bathroom ware, and personalised presets with apps in 2018. Pankaj Sharma, president, Johnson Bathrooms & Kitchens, feels that, in recent times, ‘eco-friendly’ technology has become the need of the hour. “The requirement is to deliver products that contain a mix of aesthetics and functionality, thus allowing customers to indulge and experience the best in design as well use of products that make more sense for specific spaces.” With the rise of public water-saving initiatives, an increased focus on personal responsibility, and the progress being made with advanced technology, bathrooms are now being designed accordingly. Ms. Emanuela Tavolini, director of Sales Europe, GRAFF, says, “Energy-saving and water-saving are now a pri-

2. Antonio Bullo designed The Gap for Roca by drawing inspiration from the simplicity of symmetrical lines and minimalist shapes. 3. Inspira, the vitreous china collection from Roca, offers three lines of design and multiple combinations to allow flexibility to the user.

www.architectandinteriorsindia.com | JUNE 2018 | ARCHITECT and INTERIORS INDIA

PRODUCT SPOTLIGHT CONTEMPORARY BATHROOMS

4. A product from Classic Marble Company’s Stone & Luce collection, which can be backlit in order to create a spectacular visual effect. 5. Bathroom fittings like hansgrohe RainSelect shower eracidate unnecessary shower products from the wall and engender a clean, spacious look. 6. The AXOR ShowerHeaven 1200’s four retractable ‘wings’ and integrated ambient lighting guarantee a luxurious showering experience.

mary concern for many. GRAFF provides several faucets with water-saving aerator solutions like Solar and Targa. The Solar collection aerator, for example, can reduce the water flow from 11 to 7 litres per minute, with a considerable energy saving.” Most GRAFF mixers are designed with a lever that always closes and opens, while aligning to the faucet’s main body, in the cold position. This means that the faucet is ‘naturally’ set on the cold water position, avoiding energy wastage.” Highlighting Jaquar’s energy- and water-saving products such as air showers, pressmatic faucets, sensor faucets, dual flush and sensor urinals that cater to this heightened sensitivity to the environment, Shukla informs, “With changing global environment conditions, customers are cognizant of their responsibility towards precious resources like water. Bathrooms being spaces that utilise maximum water as compared to other rooms in a house, users are keenly interested in water-saving and energy-efficient bathroom fittings.” Hansgrohe India, too, has an range of green products that also deliver an impressive performance. Gaurav Malhotra, managing director, Hansgrohe India, says, “Hansgrohe products come with EcoSmart and CoolStart technologies. EcoSmart products use minimum water and deliver maximum showering pleasure. CoolStart products automatically realise when the user opens the tap to use cold water, and never start water heating at that time.”

ARCHITECT and INTERIORS INDIA | JUNE 2018 | www.architectandinteriorsindia.com

Kher believes that energy-saving in contemporary bathrooms is not just about using ‘eco-products’; it also involves eco-living with efficiency. There is no point in installing an eco product which, over a period of time, takes more water or energy to maintain or to even run. He reiterates, “We have to bring in the concept of efficiency here across all the segments where sustainability is an issue.” One sure-shot way to have sustainable, efficient bath spaces is to have a holistic design of the bath space, so that there is clear saving per bathroom – which is measurable and quantifiable. Zalur stocks KEUCO, Alke, NIKLES, Ramon Soler, HOM, Turkuaz Seramik and VISAM, all products that deliver savings both in terms of water as well as light. Gauri Singh Shandilaya, managing director, Crystal Faucets, states, “The emphasis is more on the forms, flows and ways water can be manipulated to provide more freshness or rejuvenation to the user. Digitalisation, lighting and electronics are also featuring exceedingly as an essential component of the new-age bathroom. Remotes and panels to control and choose between features are becoming more popular.” Space-saving is an increasingly sought-after parameter of the modern bathroom and, therefore, diverter-based bathing and behind-the-wall cisterns are among the best sellers. At the upper end of the spectrum, however, it is the Smart Taps that are proving to be popular. These allow you to exercise complete

PRODUCT SPOTLIGHT CONTEMPORARY BATHROOMS

NEW ON THE BLOCK HANSGROHE: The AXOR ShowerHeaven, which creates varied showering experiences: from a revitalising water jet to soothing shower rain. The AXOR Uno basin mixers and showerpipers, which are ergonomic and ultra-minimalist. And the AXOR thermostatic module, a sleek concealed unit that helps operate the shower and control shower modes without requirement of any other bathroom fitting. GRAFF: The company has two new faucet collections: Incanto and Harley. Incanto is characterised by modern square lines and consists of several faucet variations for washbasins, bathtubs and the shower area. Harley mixes contemporary forms with shapes reminiscent of the past. With a modest industrial look, reflected in the tubular, softly squared spout, Harley finds a more refined style in the distinctive circular handle. ROCA: The Alba Bathroom Collection consists of a smart toilet, bathtub, basin and furniture. Alba In-Wash integrated toilet offers an intelligent system that can be controlled through an App on your iPhone/iPad with an easy-to-use remote that comes along with the product. The Naia faucet collection sports cylindrical and square geometric shapes, while the Gap collection offers a comprehensive range of brilliantly designed bathroom products. The Rimless WC options are easy to clean and provide better flush-down distribution - resulting in superior hygiene.

JAQUAR: After the recently-launched Showertronic iV2 and Artize TumbleRain, the Jaquar Group will soon be launching Artize Rainjoy+, a combination of specialised water outlets and different flow modes. Also, the brand has recently launched a designer range of faucets Artize Tailwater and Artize Tiaara - both of which combine design and technology to deliver a masterpiece.

control over water management through a combination of electronics, timers and solenoid valves.

LIGHTING UP 7. Each piece in GRAFF’s Incanto series of faucets is crafted with a focus on engineering and ingenuity, resulting in a minimalist and even composition. 8. GRAFF’s Sade is one of their most successful contemporary collections. The harmonious movement of the faucet body recalls the natural gush of water... 9. A ceiling-mounted showerhead with LED from GRAFF. Lighting in the bathspace is one of the most exciting developments witnessed by the industry.

Lighting is often taken for granted while designing auxiliary spaces such as bathrooms and kitchens. However, it plays a crucial role in creating the right ambience – both from the design and user perspective. The amount of natural light entering the bathroom and the levels of artificial lighting in the bathroom need to be considered carefully while planning. “The best is to maximise the natural light. It brightens your mood and makes the bathroom look more spacious. Natural light gives a clean look to the bathroom,” discloses Malhotra. Ranganathan sheds more light on artificial lighting strategies: “Effective bathroom lighting is made up of three parts: ambient lighting, task lighting, and accent lighting. Ambient lighting provides the general light used for moving around, getting dressed or cleaning, while task lighting is brighter, with more directional light used to illuminate specific activities such as brushing your teeth or washing your face. Accent lighting ties it all together by illuminating the dark areas or highlighting a decorative detail in the room.” In addition to strategies covering these aspects, there’s also

ARCHITECT and INTERIORS INDIA | JUNE 2018 | www.architectandinteriorsindia.com

ZALUR LIFESTYLE: KEUCO offers Plan bathroom furniture, Plan fittings, Plan accessories and Plan light mirrors and mirror cabinets; IXMO fittings, Luminous mirror cabinets, iLook Move cosmetic mirror and new Edition 11, Edition 400 and Plan fittings and accessories in three new finishes. ALKE’s Hilow and MONOCHROME, ME2 Mirror cabinets and Play It range of bathroom furniture caters to the mid segment. NIKLES has a new range of carbon finish fittings and new dropless shower heads. TURKUAZ SERAMIK has come up with a new range of ultra-slim washbasins and rimless water closets. HOM has a new range of towel warmers. JOHNSON BATHROOMS & KITCHENS: The Thermostatic Showering system, Avante (germ-free range of sanitaryware) and a range of wellness products (Whirlpools and Multi Systems) are the company’s latest offerings. The first gives you a complete and revitalising pulsating massage, while the Avante range uses nano technology to ensure complete hygiene. Whirlpools come with Spine Jets and Swirl Jets, a bathtub filler and hand shower with adjustable sprays. CLASSIC MARBLE COMPANY: Terrazzo is the latest offering in the engineered marble segment under its flagship brand KalingaStone. It offers two separate collections - Roma and Café. The former consists of lighter surfaces, while the latter features darker marble slabs. The products are characterised by less porosity, more flexibility and hardness - more than that of natural marble. The Stone & Luce collection is inspired by ancient mosaic patterned stone. Terrazzo and the Stone & Luce collections can be backlit in order to create spectacular visual effects. CRYSTAL FAUCETS: Smart Mirrors, bath vanities, Smart Taps, Cirrus Showers, Bossini Rainbow chromotherapy showers, LED colour flows, Selene Petal, Era Crystal, and Ark Body Jets are the latest offerings.

Approved by:

VRF WORLD VRV IV

ECOi VRF

MULTI V

ADVANTAGE VRF

DVM S

SET-FREE

CITY MULTI

AIR STAGE V II

SMMS i

KX VRF

GMV 5

VRF V5 X SYSTEM

VRF IV PLUS X POWER VRF

ISO - 9001 ISO - 14001 ISO - 18001

V5P VRF

Customer Care: Tel: 91- 22-6613 1818 E-mail: adityamantubes@gmail.com Website: www.mandevtubes.com

PRODUCT SPOTLIGHT CONTEMPORARY BATHROOMS

10-12. Bathrooms of today embrace aethetics and functionally. These concepts by Johnson Bathrooms are illustrative of this trend.

the nature of light that has an impact on the bathroom – or any space for that matter – when it comes to being energising, relaxing, increasing cognitive performance, etc. Kher explains, “From 6,500K, which mimics daylight and which the user needs in the morning – to 2,700K or 3,000K, which the user needs in the evening, Keuco covers the entire colour temperature. Further, with washbasin lightings for the nights and room light for the bathroom along with defogger with a cut-off timer, we offer the holistic concept of bathroom lighting through our light mirrors and mirror cabinets.” One of the most exciting developments in bathroom lighting is using light in close conjunction with water – earlier considered unsafe because of the difficulty in keeping the user protected from potential electrical accidents. “However, with the advent of LEDs which require very little electric power, it has been possible to perform a miracle and bring water and light together in the same product,” says Shandilaya. “In complex products such as steam enclosures and bathtubs, one can see overhead and underwater lights that enhance the bath experience. Now, even simpler products like overhead showers use LEDs. The water drizzle almost seems to carry the light around the area of the shower, thereby making Dream Showers or Big Rain Showers very popular among the middle and upper classes.” LED chromotherapy enhances the therapeutic value of the combination of water and light. GRAFF’s Ametis Ring, for

ARCHITECT and INTERIORS INDIA | JUNE 2018 | www.architectandinteriorsindia.com

example, is a multi-function showerhead featuring rain and waterfall effects as well as a full-spectrum LED RGB colour therapy lighting system with six colours. The main body of the showerhead, completely empty inside, is internally designed so that the rainfall flows at a perfect angle, merging exactly below the centre of the ring, giving extra enjoyment to the user.

MAKING ‘SMART’ BATHROOMS/RE-MODELLING OLD ONES With bathrooms becoming the new destination for relaxation and rejuvenation, consumers are constantly looking for smart solutions that keeps their homes ‘in trend’ with the latest technology and offer luxury. From automatic seat control to temperature control to no-sound toilets, from massage functions to showers, bathrooms are truly becoming an extension of our eccentricities. Ranganathan says, “We have worked with designers to build smart products constantly – such as W+W (the integrated WC cum washbasin), electronic faucets, waterless urinals, cold start faucets, dual flush cisterns. Such technology-based options are chosen over their traditional counterparts, not only for the ease of use – but also for their energy and water-saving properties.” But what exactly is a smart bathroom? Tavolini says, “A bathroom is considered ‘smart’ when it employs technologies that are already familiar to smartphones and tablet users and don’t need, for this reason, any special knowledge to be utilised.” GRAFF adopts smart technologies in the design of many of its contemporary faucets and shower systems. The Aqua sense system, for example, is a multi-function shower system that can be easily controlled through a touch screen. The

PRODUCT SPOTLIGHT CONTEMPORARY BATHROOMS 13

touchpad, in fact, allows the user to control several multimedia and water functions with a simple hand touch. While it may be expensive to replace a sink or a bathtub, the good news for the consumer is that smart products can easily be retrofitted into homes without too much hassle. Shukla says, “With just simple modifications, a bathroom can be easily transformed into a smart and efficient space using products like flow restrictors, air showers, dual flush systems, etc.” Kher believes that smart technology starts at the product development stage itself, the way material is chosen and the way products are manufactured. “It’s never one aspect of the product which makes it smart, it’s a combination of quality, design, functionality, ergonomics and how easy and minimal it is to install and, later, maintain, which makes fittings smarter,” says Kher, adding that he would recommend an old bath space to be remodelled into a minimal, contemporary bathroom with a very unique design having all the products that can deliver clear water, light savings and great functionality.

COLOURS, TEXTURES, TILES AND FITTINGS Bath fittings are made of brass, an alloy comprising 58% copper and about 38% zinc. Some companies also make plastic sanitary fittings that are cheaper than the brass sanitary fittings. Plastic parts are increasingly being used especially to make showers and pipes. Many of the hoses have plastic in them. Shandilaya says, “Stainless steel is another material popular with shower manufacturers. Zamak (a family of alloys with a base metal of zinc and alloying elements of aluminium, magnesium and copper) are popular for making handles. Steel is also used in springs inside valves and push taps. Hygiene and watersaving has inspired companies to develop solenoid valves that use electro magnets instead of knobs and spindles to regulate faucets.” Ceramic is also used in some contemporary fittings for spindles and cartridges. That’s the inside story. When it comes to external finishes, plenty of materials are available in the market to cater to diverse preferences. Malhotra says, “Home owners prefer natural materials like wood, glass or stone as they give a refreshing and

clean feel to the bathroom. These materials give an organic look to the bathroom. Glass allows easy passage of natural light, making the bathroom appear bigger. Other materials like stone and wood provide a bathroom with a hint of spa-like feeling. Choosing the right finish for your faucets and showers is another factor adding to an eye-catching bathroom.” When it comes to the overall design of a bath space, aesthetics now receives as much attention as the functional aspects. “Unlike the tile choices in the past,” says Shah, “which were influenced by their utility including resistance to water and staining, durability and ease of maintenance, today their aesthetics are just as important as their function. Alongside, the choices in fixtures have changed drastically from the simple hot-cold shower option to showers dispensing water in regulated force and music and lighting. So, a contemporary bathroom can be quite literally customised to one’s desire, including the colours of the tiles or material.” Colour has been an enduring trend over the past couple of years for bathrooms, and its powerful influence cannot be denied. “The world of interiors is moving towards muted, nature stories within the bath space or lighter colours, finishes, textures – which can subtly enhance the concept of wellbeing,” says Kher. “Further, one has to understand the impact that light makes on the colour and material as well as how it can be enhanced within the bath space.” However, vibrantly-hued products such as those from Parryware’s Colour Story range, including trendy Lavender Lite, Alpine Blue and Magenta, are finding takers too. Bathroom fixtures, too, see colour-driven ranges. GRAFF, for instance, offers some of its contemporary collections in two distinctive black-and-white finishes. The two finishes are both obtained through a powder-coating process that makes products resistant to scratches, chipping, abrasion, corrosion, fading, and other wear-and-tear issues. Myriad tastes. Various budgets. A multitude of scales. The bathroom products of today are geared to cater to all. But environment-sensitivity, a technological edge and indulgence are factors that unite these diverse offerings. A&I

13. ALKE’s Hilow incorporates two worktop heights into a single design. Additionally, it features useful drawers, optimally placed power outlets, an attached towel rail and interior mirrors.

www.architectandinteriorsindia.com | JUNE 2018 | ARCHITECT and INTERIORS INDIA

PRODUCT SPOTLIGHT CONTEMPORARY BATHROOMS

SAVING ENERGY, FITTINGLY 1

1. Emanuela Tavolini. 2. KE Ranganathan. 3. Sandeep Shukla. 4. Rahul Kher. 5. Free-standing Cello bathtub from Johnson Bathrooms.

INDUSTRY EXPERTS DISCUSS HOW SUSTAINABILITY CONCERNS ARE DRIVING THE DESIGN OF BATH FIXTURES TODAY What are the elements that constitute a contemporary bathroom when it comes to design and water-saving technology? Emanuela Tavolini: Chromotherapy and multi-function shower system are elements that constitute a contemporary bathroom. Low flow showers are one of the items that are currently most requested by the market. KE Ranganathan: Contemporary bathroom designs comprise a specific look and feel without following any set pattern, which is customised according to individual needs and preferences. Contemporary design comes down to basic forms; plain, smooth surfaces with flawless transitions from one material to the next – leading to clean appearances. Water-saving products such as dual flushing cisterns, electronic faucets, rimless toilets and faucets with aerators and flow limiters come in numerous designs, shapes and sizes. Sandeep Shukla: Contemporary bathrooms are not just restricted to the design and aesthetics of bath fixtures, but embrace water-saving and energy-efficient features as well. Jaquar Group, too, has launched a variety of products that save water and embrace the company’s Go Green philosophy. The products introduced by Jaquar Group include air showers, pressmatic faucets, sensor faucets, dual flush. Rahul Kher: Today, we are moving towards a holistic design concept, where individual products take a back seat and the complete design comes to the forefront. The key concept elements which constitute a contemporary bathroom are: 1.Design and planning, which focuses on essentials and strips away the non-essentials, with a clear focus on individuality; 2.Products with a clean design language, and which deliver quantified energy saving, water saving and require less maintenance; and 3.Products made with superior materials and offer great functionality and ergonomics. Gaurav Malhotra: A contemporary bathroom is all about a simple and elegant design. Contemporary bathrooms need fittings that are minimalistic in design, ergonomic, convenient to use, easy to install and make a bathroom clutter-free. Users are also concerned about the water consumption that a bathroom fitting will lead to. They opt for Eco smart products that use less water and reduce unnecessary energy consumption. We have also come up with the innovative PowderRain technology to reduce water consumption in the bathrooms. Pankaj Sharma: Contemporary bathrooms have a comprehensive range of solutions, covering not just bath fittings and sanitaryware – but also majorly focus on a range of wellness products like bathtubs, shower and steam cubicles, multi-function shower panels, etc, to provide a completely rejuvenating and refreshing experience. Today, the requirement is to deliver products that contain a mix of aesthetics and functionality. When it comes to such green products, there are several innovative, sustainable, germ-free and water-saving sanitaryware products and faucets available in the Johnson Bathrooms range. Amit Shah: The contemporary bathroom of today has its own unique aura, style and design. The bathroom is no more a space for just cleansing, but is now a personal spa. The extra-large bathrooms are becoming smaller with small yet

ARCHITECT and INTERIORS INDIA | JUNE 2018 | www.architectandinteriorsindia.com

PANEL OF EXPERTS Emanuela Tavolini, director of Sales Europe, GRAFF KE Ranganathan, managing director, Roca Bathroom Products Sandeep Shukla, head of Communications & Marketing, Jaquar Group Rahul Kher, founder and director, Zalur Lifestyle Gaurav Malhotra, managing director, Hansgrohe India Pankaj Sharma, president, Johnson Bathrooms & Kitchens Amit Shah, managing director, Classic Marble Company Gauri Singh Shandilaya, managing director, Crystal Faucets efficient and luxurious design. Besides being aesthetically pleasing, bathrooms are now also easy to maintain. Largesize tiles and marble surfaces make a space look magnificent and are top selling products in the luxury bathroom space. Gauri Singh Shandilaya: Aerators enjoy wide acceptance across the industry now, primarily because they make the delivered flow anti-splash and symmetrical. Owing to mixing of air, a pleasant ‘whooshing’ sound is also heard as water flows out. All this enhances the overall experience for the user. What many people don’t realise is that the aerator also saves up to 50% of water owing to its constrictions and underlying mechanism. Other water-saving products that are getting popular are pressure-reducing washers. What are the latest innovations in contemporary bathrooms in terms of shower systems, lighting, faucets, basins, WCs, etc? Tavolini: In the bathroom sector, the use of technology certainly represents the biggest innovation. Customers are more and more interested in shower systems that offer additional

What is your best selling product for contemporary bathrooms? What makes it popular? Tavolini: Sade is one of the most successful contemporary collections. Sade makes minimal design a point of strength, as evidenced by the curved, flat spout. The handle’s gentle curve recalls the spout inclination, enriching the product of charm and refinement. Sade’s silhouette is definitely its hall-

PRODUCT SPOTLIGHT CONTEMPORARY BATHROOMS

functions together with the traditional ones. For this reason, GRAFF has developed the Aqua-sense shower system, based on the use of up-to-date technologies and aimed to meet the most demanding share of clientele. As well as different water functions (light rain, heavy rain and waterfall), the Aqua-sense shower system provides LED lighting chromotherapy technology and the possibility of listening to music and watching videos. Ranganathan: Stylish basins with well-defined edges that come with added functionalities of storage with aesthetically designed vanities are currently driving the industry trend. Adding a piece of artwork in the bathroom, one of the most stylish ranges from Roca, Urban captures vivid themes from across the globe in its countertop basin with unlimited design possibilities. Shukla: Lighting is one of the most overlooked and yet important elements of good interior design. The latest trends that are catching up in the lighting space are decorative lights, a dramatic chandelier, sleek contemporary lights and LEDs. The trends in luxury bathrooms are focusing on ergonomics, uniquely-designed products and technological innovations. Kher: The bigger goal is to offer “an experience“ to the end-customers, within their bath spaces. To this end, we have an entire range such as faucets with progressive cartridge, faucets with different heights and in different finishes, in-built two-step S2 water-saving cartridges, faucets with carbon covering to make them light and durable to those with complete aluminium satin finish that are resistant to finger marks and scale build-up. Sharma: Intelligent sanitaryware products are gaining popularity as they take the overall luxury bathroom experience a notch higher. Innovative products like rain shower panel with inbuilt FM radio and touch screen technology, LED lights, multiple body jets bring a modern and spa-like ambience to modern-day bathrooms. Shah: Tiles and fixtures are the basic components of a contemporary bathroom. However, today the sheer variety available in design, shape, colour and texture is a boon. Unlike the tile choices in the past, which were influenced by utility, today’s are governed by aesthetics – which is just as important as function. Alongside this, the choices in fixtures have changed drastically from the simple hot-cold shower option to showers that dispense water in regulated force, accompanied by music and lighting. Shandilaya: Modern technology and demands of the digital-age customer have fostered meteoric transformations in the features or mechanisms behind these fixtures. Traditionally, homes have had three clear divisions in a bathroom; separate spaces were allotted for the bath, the basin and the water closet (WC). In contemporary bathrooms, these places are now more distinctly partitioned. Plus, there is an emphasis on storage as the fourth dimension to it. One may additionally, or alternatively, choose rain showers that come with LEDs or rainbow lights. Smart toilet seats, automatic cleansing, smart flushing and cleansing of the closets are modern features of the WC. Behind-the-wall cisterns are also popular due to their sleek appearance and space-saving advantage.

mark: the harmonious movement of the faucet body recalls the natural gush of water, like an old fountain transformed into a stylish, contemporary object. Ranganathan: Roca’s Inspira collection is very popular. It offers products in three most relevant shapes in bathroom design: round, soft and square with an ability to appeal to all styles and types. The new range of Smart Toilets by Roca, have raised the technology standards of luxury bathroom products. The automatic systems made with the highest quality and hygiene standards, come with a selection of hands-free features, making them a modern-day product. Shukla: Products from Artize, India’s most awarded luxury bath brand, have been gaining popularity. Artize Tailwater, designed by London-based Design Studio ‘DanelonMeroni’, is presently our best-selling product for contemporary bathrooms. Kher: The entire product portfolio is skewed towards delivering an unmatched experience and a narrative with bathrooms which can have a strong emotional connect with the user. So, we have several very popular products from the world’s most innovative brands with us. Malhotra: ‘Select‘ products are very popular with our customers and they love the idea of having showers and mixers being turned on and off at the touch of a button. The best-selling products have been hansgrohe ShowerSelect, RainSelect, Select hand showers and mixers, and AXOR One. Sharma: The Thermostatic Shower Set by Johnson Bathrooms provides precise control over the mix of hot and cold water. It comes with cascade flow rain showers and body jets which give therapeutic massage benefits and a complete luxury shower experience. Shah: CMC’s latest range of Terrazzo, the mosaic patterned engineered marble, is most trending. The modern terrazzo marble is available in many shades and can be customised as per décor requirements. Additionally, the products are available in luminous features under the Stone & Luce collection for a never-seen-before dramatic combination of backlit designs. Shandilaya: Crimson, Cadet and Supreme, which have conventional spindles that have withstood the test of time and are easy to maintain, are popular. Opera and its variants Venus and Opera Classic resonate with the middle class as they go with a variety of tiles and sanitaryware and give a very polished and modern look to the bathroom. Ark Rubinetterie is our product range that caters to the upper class. All its parts have been outsourced from Europe and, thus, it has the best technology amongst all other Indian contemporary ranges of similar ilk. Cirrus and Bossini showers sold by us are also quite popular with the elite classes. They feature LED, Rainbow, Bluetooth showers with additional features like smart technology as well. A&I

6. Johnson Bathrooms’ Lute bathtub. 7. Gaurav Malhotra. 8. Pankaj Sharma. 9. Amit Shah. 10. Gauri Singh Shandilaya.

www.architectandinteriorsindia.com | JUNE 2018 | ARCHITECT and INTERIORS INDIA

YOUNG DESIGNER ARUSHI BAFNA

SMART IDEA

ARUSHI BAFNA, WHO PROPOSED AN EFFICIENT, COST-EFFECTIVE AND FUNCTIONALLY VIABLE HOUSING UNIT CONCEPT FOR A FISHING COMMUNITY, IS THE WINNER OF BUILDSMART 1

1. Arushi Bafna, winner of Buildsmart competition.

uildsmart, an online competition organised by Autodesk to inspire sustainable designs in architecture and construction, received extensive participation from architects, engineers and designers in India. The winning project fulfilled requirements of designing and conceptualising a smart building using Autodesk Revit. The young Jaipur-based architect, Arushi Bafna, proposed an efficient, cost-effective and functionally viable housing unit idea – an open-space design plan which will use locally available material, and will be ideal for any koliwada (fishing community) in Mumbai. The jury for Buildsmart comprised Gita Balakrishnan, founder and owner of Ethos India; Bimal Patwari, CEO of Pinnacle Infotech; and Sunil MK, head of Architecture, Engineering and Construction, Autodesk, India & SAARC. The young achiever in the field of architecture, interior design and furniture design, walks us through the sustainable features of the winning design. “Fishery is one of the biggest industries of Mumbai and the fishermen community, called kolis, are settled near the shores. With the rise in global sea levels, Mumbai is one of the world’s 10 coastal cities most at risk – and kolis who reside along the shores are most prone to flooding amongst all Mumbaikars. The community lives in slum areas called Koliwadas, in inhabitable infrastructural, ecological and social conditions. They not only need a sustainable and

ARCHITECT and INTERIORS INDIA | JUNE 2018 | www.architectandinteriorsindia.com

BY MARIA LOUIS adaptable solution for flooding, but also require proper living and working conditions and a better functioning housing solution. “Keeping these conditions in mind, I formulated a design idea which is based on creating social housing solutions incorporating the basics of aquaponics, vermin composting and fish breeding. The idea is to create a house that fulfils the demands of the Koliwada community and is cost effective as well. Each housing unit has been devised in a way that it has an open-space plan. There are four houses on the ground floor and four more on the first floor. The houses on the first floor are built perpendicular to the ones on the ground floor. This structure helps create terraces which can be used for various activities; including fish drying, terrace gardens and further building in the future. “It also provides breathing spaces between two such units, thus de-cluttering the space without occupying unnecessary area on the ground, as the population-to-land ratio of Mumbai is extremely dense. Each house has built external walls and toilets. The rest of the walls are foldable cane ones – which will provide employment to women in the area, who are already working with cane. These would be really cost effective due to the easy availability of material. The walls will help people extend the homes when needed, especially when they plan a family. To solve the socio-cultural issue with SRAs, our typology creates breathers and social spaces within the house and outside.

YOUNG DESIGNER ARUSHI BAFNA 2

“The proposed housing unit has a planned corner in each house – which further connects it to the corners of the other three houses in that unit, together creating a good community living space. This corner can be separated by foldable cane walls, thus making it a convenient option. These communal spaces act as a sponge that collects excess water and circulates it back to the sea through channels. These sponges or craters would be used for aquaponics and fish breeding. “Aquaponics is a food production system that combines aquaculture with hydroponics in a symbiotic environment. In this system, water from the aquaculture system is fed to the hydroponic system where the by-products are broken down by nitrogen-fixing bacteria into nitrates and nitrites which are utilised by plants as nutrients. The water is then re-circulated into the system. These water craters could be used for fish breeding. With the facility of these craters, the kolis will get a better space to dump the fish waste – which will also make the area more green and habitable. The plants thus grown in the process could be sold, giving them another source of income. “Many of the house amenities, such as basic furniture, storage spaces, benches, etc, will be designed as part of the main structural wall system in exposed brick – thus reducing the cost for the builder as well as the user. It would be a ready-to-use house. “The foundation setting of the house is proposed to be that of amphibious housing, to eradicate the problem of flood damage, as the site is on the shore and is predicted to be flooded owing to rising sea levels. The house sits on an undercarriage made of buoyancy tanks that sit in a depression under the house, keeping the house close to the ground so that it doesn’t look out of context. The house is kept in place by slip columns that let the house travel up and down with the water level. “The key takeaway from the competition would be my understanding of the idea of sustainability. Often read as just conserving nature to its extremes, sustainability stands for much more than that. ‘Sustainable architecture’ is a very deceptive term having multi-faceted meanings. On one hand, it directly refers to sustaining nature at its best by using environmentally-conscious design techniques and, on the other (though rarely), it talks about the involvement of society as a whole in sustainable urban development. Sustainability is only when a building embraces nature at its best and worst. Talking of conserving nature, in terms of living spaces, one refers to green building practices –

TECH THAT!

How Autodesk technology enables sustainable design “Autodesk technology not only helped me in the design by providing easy methods, but actually encouraged me to work on it to begin with. If it wasn’t for the Revit software making the calculations and designing easy, I would have not bothered spending so much time on designing this project. “BIM encourages a more collaborative environment. It also has a high focus on sustainability in building design. We used BIM to create more environmentally-friendly buildings. And it cut down on much of the manual work. My team became more productive, and we ended up saving a lot of time and money. “While BIM is a methodology, you also need the right software to implement it. The Revit BIM is one of the few digital design software packages created with BIM specifically in mind, and is among the most popular ones. It allowed me to design singular models and use cloud computing to ensure every member of my team had access to the information they needed.” – Arushi Bafna involving resource-efficient processes and integrated approach to design. It is a myth that a great design and minimum use of resources cannot go hand-in-hand. A design approach based on minimum environmental effects can be as visually pleasing as any other fancy well-faceted building.” A&I

2. Each housing unit is based on an open-space plan, and features four houses on the ground floor and four on the first floor. The internal walls use foldable cane screens that allow extensions as and when needed.

3. The corners of the four homes on each level intersect to create a community space.

www.architectandinteriorsindia.com | JUNE 2018 | ARCHITECT and INTERIORS INDIA

EVENT JAQUAR DEISGN CONFAB

REINVENTING IDEOLOGIES

STALWARTS FROM THE BENGALURU FRATERNITY GATHERED TOGETHER FOR JAQUAR DESIGN CONFAB

1. Panel members: (L-R) Nisha Mathew Ghosh, Husna Rahaman, Sharukh Mistry, Namith Varma, Gayathri Shetty, Naresh Narasimhan, Nejeeb Khan, Mohit Hajela. 2. Rajesh Mehra, director and promoter, Jaquar Group, introduced the theme and highlighted the presence of Jaquar Group as a brand. 3. Mohit Hajela, group head, Business Development, Jaquar Group.

BY SHRISTI NANGALIA

fter the success of Jaquar Design ConFab in other cities, Jaquar Group, a leading bathroom and lighting solutions company, organised a thought-provoking forum in association with Architect & Interiors India at the Ritz Carlton, Bengaluru, last month. Jaquar Group, with an aim to explore the latest philosophies directly from the experts in the domain, invited the city’s celebrated architects and designers to grace the expert panel of Jaquar Design ConFab – a platform of knowledge expression and ideation. Bibhor Srivastava, group publishing director, ITP Media India, began the evening with an opening address. Anticipating an enticing evening, Srivastava thanked and welcomed the invitees and acknowledged the support of all the partners in tailoring the forum. Following a short video presentation by Jaquar, Rajesh Mehra, director and promoter, Jaquar Group, introduced the theme of Design ConFab and highlighted the presence of Jaquar as a brand. Mohit Hajela, group head, Business Development, Jaquar Group, took the stage to invite the keynote speaker for the evening – Sanjay Puri, principal architect, SPA. To reflect on the importance and way forward for working contextually, the prolific star architect explained six project designs from his firm’s oeuvre. Puri was felicitated by Parvez Amin, president – Sales & Marketing, Jaquar Group, for his inspiring presentation. On the occasion, Mehra took the honour to felicitate Prof. Krishnarao Jaisim, founder of Jaisim-Fountainhead, with a Lifetime Achievement Award for his exemplary and pioneering work in the field of architecture and design. The event also recognised Sharukh Mistry, principal architect & director, Mistry Architects, with a Lifetime Achievement Award for being an enduring inspiration for the design fraternity with

ARCHITECT and INTERIORS INDIA | JUNE 2018 | www.architectandinteriorsindia.com

PANEL OF EXPERTS Gayathri Shetty, principal architect, Gayathri & Namith Architects Namith Varma, principal architect, Gayathri & Namith Architects Nisha Mathew Ghosh, principal architect, Mathew & Ghosh Architects Husna Rahaman, principal architect & interior designer, Fulcrum Studio Sharukh Mistry, principal architect & director, Mistry Architects Naresh V Narasimhan, principal architect, Venkataramana Associates Nejeeb Khan, principal architect, KGD Architecture Mohit Hajela, group head, Business Development, Jaquar Group his practice and the philosophies that drive it. A short video presentation about Jaquar’s product specifications, manufacturing processes and expertise set the mood for the subsequent panel discussion. Aimed at understanding ‘Design to Sustain or Scale: Designing for Diversified India’, the panel was power-packed with experts from the architecture industry. While the panel members were invited on the stage, Namith Varma and Gayathri Shetty, founders, Gayathri & Namith Architects, tightened their belts in prepa-

EVENT JAQUAR DEISGN CONFAB 6

ration for moderating the ensuing discussion. Without wasting time, Shetty kickstarted the dialogue by asking Mistry about the ways to achieve inclusive design for a diversified India. Mistry believes that India’s growth is a phenomenal opportunity for designers to shape the country’s future infrastructure “Energy, ecology and equity are the three main scaffolds for any development. While designing corporations, large spaces and small spaces inclusively, the people who are going to clean, maintain and operate the development are to be included in the brief. I believe, good design can change the world,” Mistry expounded. In the context of sustainability, Naresh Narasimhan, principal architect, Venkataramana Associates, was asked about his idea of a responsible city-level design. “There has been a huge breakdown in the quality of public spaces today, as they are engineered by transport planners, bureaucrats and politicians. If architects get together and urban design theories are integrated in the design, we can create better ‘places’,” he vouchsafed. Nejeeb Khan, principal architect, KGD Architecture, was asked to share his take on designing buildings with green features. He pointed out, “Every design that an architect makes should be green compliant. In my opinion, a building should not be measured as per its size or area it covers, but as per the energy or resource it uses. In that way, we may become more sensitive about nature and its offerings. Green architecture should not be an add-on to our designs, but a crucial part of it.” Nisha Mathew Ghosh, principal architect, Mathew & Ghosh Architects, talked about the ways to obtain a synergy between innovative architecture, interior design, sustainability and commercial viability. “People, planet and profit – all the three factors need to be in sync with each other in a

design. To achieve this, we need to generate hybrid projects that conceptually consider ecology and architecture, environment and interior, all at once,” opined Ghosh. With the changing trends and rapid urbanisation, Husna Rahaman, founder, Fulcrum Studio, was asked to share her insights into resurrecting traditional art forms in today’s architecture. Rahaman believes that we are looking too far, too wide and beyond. “We should always look into our Indianness and embrace it in all aspects. We, at our firm, constantly try to go back to our roots, work with artisans and craftsmen to reinvent art and craft in a modern context. Contrary to all the superficial trends, I think ‘India’ needs to be in fashion again,” she proudly exclaimed. Being a professional from the manufacturing industry, Hajela was asked to explain how industries, like Jaquar could help in bringing a holistic sustenance in this diversified country. Context and explicit need of the design were important factors, as per Hajela. He shared, “In Jaquar’s journey of six decades, we have understood the good and bad of designing to scale and sustainability. We have grown with designers as much as designers have grown with us.” A hearty exchange of thoughts and expression of philosophies marked an insightful panel conversation. Sandeep Shukla, head – MarCom, Jaquar Group, and Ranbir Mehra, director, Jaquar Lighting, joined the panelists on the dais to felicitate them for delivering an intriguing session. On behalf of the organisers, Soni Thayal, zonal head – South, Jaquar Group, expressed a vote of thanks by acknowledging the keynote speaker, panel members, attendees, ITP Media India, knowledge partners and the media for making the Design ConFab an inspiring and successful event. Cocktails and conversation over dinner followed. A&I

4. Keynote speaker of the evening,, Sanjay Puri. 5. Audience at the forum. 6. Prof. Krishnarao Jaisim, founder, Jaisim-Fountainhead, is recognised with a Lifetime Achievement Award for his pioneering work by Gayathri Shetty (L), Rajesh Mehra and Namith Verma (R). 7. Sharukh Mistry, principal architect & director, Mistry Architects, being given a Lifetime Achievement Award for inspiring the design fraternity with his practice and philosophies.

www.architectandinteriorsindia.com | JUNE 2018 | ARCHITECT and INTERIORS INDIA

EVENT HP DESIGN SUMMIT

TAKING THE LEGACY AHEAD HP DESIGN SUMMIT’S REACH WAS EXPANDED TO BENGALURU WITH AN AIM TO EXPLORE AND ADVOCATE NEW CONCEPTS 1

BY SHRISTI NANGALIA

1. Panel members: (L-R) Shravan Bendapudi, Vijay Narnapatti, Gururaj Raghavendra N, Fancy George, Devang Karia, Ravindra Kumar. 2. Congregation of architects and designers at the summit.

ollowing the grand success of the HP Design Summit at other cities, the hosts HP India and ITP Media India organised the 5th edition at Bengaluru. The evening brought together illustrious design minds of the city with the aim of kindling a conversation around technology and methods of building a better tomorrow. Bibhor Srivastava, group publishing director at ITP Meida India, acknowledged the presence of the speakers, delegate architects and organising team, and thanked them for shaping events like the Design Summit that allow knowledge sharing at the highest level. An eminent name in the design business, Ravi Sarangan, executive director, Edifice Consultants Pvt Ltd, set the ball rolling with his keynote address. While showcasing several of Edifice’s projects headed by him, Sarangan illustrated his statement, “Technology and innovation are, and should be, deeply rooted to the principles and fundamental theories of architecture.” Devang Karia, country manager – Large Format Design, PPS-GSB, HP India, presented his address by focusing on the idea ‘Innovation in Digital Print technology.’ Karia touched

ARCHITECT and INTERIORS INDIA | JUNE 2018 | www.architectandinteriorsindia.com

PANEL OF EXPERTS Shravan Bendapudi, studio director, Gensler Vijay Narnapatti, partner, Maya Praxis Gururaj Raghavendra N, associate director, Space Matrix Design Consultants Fancy George, director, KGD Architecture Devang Karia, country manager – Large Format Design, PPS-GSB, HP India Ravindra Kumar, director, Venkataraman Associates upon HP’s leadership in the large format market, high points of innovations, trends in AEC/construction segment and the need of printing plans. With the support of intriguing videos, he also introduced the new HP DesignJet T830 24-Inch Multifunction printer, HP DesignJet T1700 printer and HP PageWide XL printer to the audience. Next, Suresh Srinivasan, regional business manager, HP, took the podium to speak about the design, development and working of dif-

EVENT HP DESIGN SUMMIT 2

ferent HP Z Workstations. Moving on to the dialogue session of the summit, the panel discussion, the speakers and moderator were invited on stage. Ravindra Kumar, director at Venkataraman Associates, moderated the panel with zeal and brought out the best from the panelists. Kumar was eager to know about the impact of digitalisation on the working style of designers. Kickstarting the conversation, Shravan Bendapudi, studio director at Gensler, said, “Digitalisation has allowed us to go beyond the bounds of what an individual or a team can do in a particular amount of time. Tools available to us help in quick problem-solving; this leads to speeding up of the design process and bringing out of unique architecture.” Vijay Narnapatti, partner, Maya Praxis, put forth another perspective: “With the increase in usage of digital gadgets, digitalisation has boosted the cost of working. However, it pays back by making us look more seductive and convincing through the visual representation and documentation of the project that was much tougher without the use of software.” Gururaj Raghavendra N, associate director, Space Matrix Design Consultants, rightly supported, “While designing large

campuses or office spaces, we need to cater to all the three generations: X, Y and Z. The spaces can no longer be designed using only logical reasoning. A design expression of today should be able to interact to the millennial client and let them be part of the experience. Technology helps us achieve that.” Fancy George, director, KGD Architecture, added to the positives, saying, “We, as a practice, promote augmented reality and virtual reality, as it has the capability of driving decisions. But again, there has to be a human-centric approach to the design process.” Karia, too, highlighted the positive points of technology. “Technology is helping us overcome our everyday problems by making things simpler; it is aiding us in reaching out and connecting to more people in an instant; it is boosting our efficiency in terms of cost, energy and resources. And at the end of the day, the human interface that creates and runs the technology makes it completely relevant to our lives.” At the conclusion of the thought-provoking panel session, Srivastava felicitated the speakers and offered the vote of thanks to all attendees, dignitaries and organisers, and invited the guests to partake of cocktails and dinner. A&I

3. Devang Karia unveils the HP DesignJet T830 24-Inch Multifunction printer and HP DesignJet T1700 printer. 4. Keynote speaker: Ravi Sarangan. 5. Devang Karia, presented on ‘Innovation in Digital Print technology.’ 6. Suresh Srinivasan, regional business manager, HP, took the podium to speak about the design, development and working of different HP Z Workstations.

www.architectandinteriorsindia.com | JUNE 2018 | ARCHITECT and INTERIORS INDIA

EVENT HP SKYLINE 2050

SKYâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;S THE LIMIT

ANNOUNCING THE WINNERS OF HP SKYLINE 2050, A DESIGN COMPETITION BY HP DESIGNJET PRINTERS BY SHRISTI NANGALIA

1. Winners of the HP Skyline 2050 with the HP team and the jury members.

P joined hands with ITP Media India to organise a design competition with an anticipation of documenting and exploring the progression that enables architects to push their boundaries and traverse beyond restricting definitions to visualise a skyline that can change the perception of cities today. In favour of the HP Skyline 2050 competition, architects and engineers based in India were invited to design the skyline of 2050 at any city of their choice. To commence the proceedings of the evening, Bibhor Srivastava, group publishing director at ITP Media India, was invited on stage to present the welcome address. The idea behind HP Skyline 2050 was to generate a neutral, credible and meaningful platform that recognises the best of minds across the nation. Srivastava acknowledged the support of the technology experts, HP, in tailoring the competition. He also thanked the jury: Sanjay Puri, principal architect, Sanjay Puri Architects; Sunita Kohli, president, K2 India Architects & Designers; and Martand Khosla, partner, Romi Khosla Design Studio, who shortlisted three designs based on conceptual,

2. Neil Westhof, director & general manager - Large Format Design, APJ, HP Inc, spoke about the companyâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s global presence, facts about their business model and megatrends. 3. Delegates at the HP Skyline 2050 summit.

ARCHITECT and INTERIORS INDIA | JUNE 2018 | www.architectandinteriorsindia.com

PANEL OF EXPERTS Sanjay Puri, principal architect, Sanjay Puri Architects Sheetal Rakheja, managing partner, AEON Design & Development Sonali Rastogi, founding partner, Morphogenesis Martand Khosla, partner, Romi Khosla Design Studio Devang Karia, country manager - Large Format Design, PPS-GSB, HP India Chetan Hingu, value business lead (workstation, thin client and rPOS), HP India Amit Gupta, founding partner, Studio Symbiosis technical and design excellence. Looking forward to an interactive and enriching evening, Srivastava concluded his address by inviting Neil Westhof, director & general manager - Large Format Design, APJ, HP Inc., for his presentation. Westhof, in his address, talked about HP, its presence in the global business, facts about their business model, megatrends that give an insight of the future life, their endeavours in the

EVENT HP SKYLINE 2050 4

HP SKYLINE WINNERS Abhigyan Neogi, principal architect, Chromed Design Studio Yatin Patel, founder director, DSP Design Associates Mohit Kansal, principal architect, Studio Strato 35

innovation and technology segment, and their objectives as a market player who delivers solutions to the design industry. The three shortlisted designers then geared up to share their design models. Yogesh Tantia of DSP Design Associates showcased their design which was inspired by ‘Biomimicry’. “In an attempt to designing a vertical building, we tried to portray the client’s ever-evolving image through a function-friendly design. We also made sure that the building not only creates a lasting impression of architectural beauty through its form, but also performed as an energy-conscious structure,” said Tantia. Next, Abhigyan Neogi from Chromed Design Studio took the stage to present their design. Attempting to reinvent hospitality buildings through a new system of working, Neogi and team developed ‘Traveotel’ which unifies the experiences of travelling and staying at a hotel. “We designed an entity where a ‘Traveoller’, a mobile room, can travel around the city and can be parked at the number of Traveotels placed at different nodes of the city,” explained Neogi. Mohit Kansal from Studio Strato showcased their ‘Mixed Use Development’ design model next. “For us, a futuristic building will house commercial, residential, recreational, cultural and hospitality spaces, one that fosters integration, density and compatibility of land use,”elucidated Kansal. Giving special attention to creating a smooth pedestrian flow and fulfilling community-specific needs, the design came up as an innovative, self-sustaining, contextual mass of structure that could be the icon of the urban future. Following a rivetting act of mind-reading and entertainment with Abhishek Majithia, the panel discussion was called to order. Amit Gupta, founding partner, Studio Symbiosis, moderated the session that reflected upon the idea ‘Building for the Future: Lead by Technology, Design and Innovation’. Gupta set the tone for the dialogue by asking Sonali Rastogi, founding partner, Morphogenesis, to deliver her views on the change that innovation and technology is bringing to Indian architecture. “The change in the process of architectural working itself is a product of the budding technology. Even otherwise, if it is about the availability of materials, or newer applications, or newer technology that needs to be incorporated, we have to accept it and get going,” stated Rastogi. Sheetal Rakheja, managing partner at AEON Design & Development was asked to share her views on the importance of sustainability in building the future, in terms of architec-

ture and design. She believes that technology is the tool that helps designers to be responsible about sustainability. “From calculating the energy consumption, heat gain, thermal mass, etc, to picking better shading systems and materials, building a sustainable mass gives rise to a structure that balances environment-sensibility with human comfort. That, according to me, is the right way of going about it,” rightly explained Rakheja. Bringing the traditional and contemporary architecture of India on one plate, Puri was called upon to share his thoughts about building for the future. He perfectly summed up saying, “Building for the future should be about going back in time, taking the principles and applying them in today’s context, keeping in mind the current conditions and need of the user.” Khosla added, “Indeed, there is a lot to learn from the past. Theories of earlier times should be layered with technological advancements to create solutions that answer to the problems of, both, now and the future.” Gupta asked Chetan Hingu, value business lead (workstation, thin client and rPOS), HP India, to shed light upon HP’s idea of projecting the future of India. “As a technology provider, I think Virtual Reality will create a prominent niche in the coming times. It can be clubbed with automated design to create virtual spaces where the client can walk through the space using a controller or handset,” shared Hingu. Concurring with his colleague, Devang Karia, country manager – Large Format Design, PPS-GSB, HP India, added, “We get a line of sight of how trends are going to emerge over time. That helps us to come up with technology that addresses the issues of not only today, but tomorrow as well. Our engagement with the various domains of the society opens up many doors for us to evolve by providing better solutions.” The panel concluded with high hopes for a healthier tomorrow. The panelists were felicitated by HP for their sporting participation. Unfolding the most awaited part of the evening, the jury was called on stage to give away the awards. The deserving and futuristic design ‘Traveotel’ by Neogi bagged the first prize; ‘Biomimicry’ by Tantia bagged the second prize and ‘Mixed Use Development’ project by Kansal was awarded the third position. The top three winners were felicitated with an architect’s office solution comprising an HP large-format printer, HP workstation, and Autodesk AEC software bundle Srivastava gave the final vote of thanks to HP, the promoters, the media and the ITP Media team for their constant support. Cocktails and dinner brought the evening to a close. A&I

4. Panel members (L-R): Chetan Hingu, Sheetal Rakheja, Sonali Rastogi, Martand Khosla, Sanjay Puri, Devang Karia and Amit Gupta. 5. Abhigyan Neogi from Chromed Design Studio took the stage to present their winning design. 6. Yogesh Tantia, DSP Design Associates, presenting on behalf of his firm. 7. Mohit Kansal from Studio Strato showcased their ‘Mixed Use Development’ design model.

www.architectandinteriorsindia.com | JUNE 2018 | ARCHITECT and INTERIORS INDIA

INTERVIEW TIM MARTIN

HAVE A NICE FLIGHT TIM MARTIN, DIRECTOR OF AVIATION AND TRANSPORT AT PERKINS+WILL, TELLS US WHY AIRPORT INTERIOR DESIGN SHOULD BE INTUITIVE AND ADAPTABLE 1

What are the key tenets of airport interior design? Airports are multi-faceted places, where passengers want to have a hassle-free experience and get through as efficiently and quickly as they possibly can. Our job as interior designers is to aid that process by giving them easy intuitive wayfinding gestures to find their next pulse point. Over eight million people pass through the airports every day. While airports come in different forms and scales, the design and build programmes for them take place over a long period of time, therefore the interior design needs to be timeless and be able to adapt to the changing needs of the passenger and operator even during the design and planning stages. From the passenger point of view, airports can be very stressful, so the interiors should be clutter-free. We suggest a large gesture or moment in the design with smaller repeating gestures around the airport to make the space recognisable, and memorable for that Instagram moment. Once a passenger is past a favourable first impression, they will start to understand the rhythm of the airport and the connections between the repeated smaller gestures.

1. Tim Martin, director of aviation and transport at Perkins+Will architecture.

How has it changed over the years? Can you cite some examples from the region? The aviation industry has grown massively over the last 30

ARCHITECT and INTERIORS INDIA | JUNE 2018 | www.architectandinteriorsindia.com

years or so, and continues to do so year on year with passenger numbers going up. The industry is adapting well, but it’s also more process-driven now. As technology improves, there needs to be a wide variety, but not too much, to avoid confusion. Some people are happy to just grab a coffee and a croissant, while others expect a fine dining experience. There are different types of passengers; some want to buy a certain watch, and know where to find it, while some spend their time browsing. Retail needs to evolve to enhance this experience. We’re starting to see a 360-degree trend appearing where technology advances are allowing the overall airport experience to become more socially-conducive, and better integrate with the local community. We’re currently working on the refurbishment and expansion of an airport in Saudi Arabia (confidential at the moment). The iconic airport was built in the ‘60s and opened in the ‘70s. Back then, it was a real destination for the locals, and for those travelling to and from there. Families would drive to the airport to have tea or coffee and marvel at the oasis in the desert and the gateway to their city. But as the airport grew and security was increased, rightly so, it also meant that the airport ceased to be a community spot; it became a less inviting place. As part of this refurbishment and expansion programme, our brief is to

What are the main spatial design elements in airport design? As with pretty much all interior design and architecture projects, the understanding of the flow in the initial stages of planning is important. For airports, particular focus should be placed on the unseen, the back of the house areas, which are the veins of the airport, ensuring smooth running of the operational areas such as catering and baggage handling systems. Airports are demanding on the people who work there. To use the old adage, if the employees are happy, then your customers (passengers, in this case) are more likely to be. We carefully study the spaces to ensure that proportionate space is given to the back of the house areas and the passenger spaces. We are also mindful that airports are businesses and they should be profitable. Retail is a big success factor in this with some airports being able to generate over 40% of their profits through retail. Couple this with other pay per use items such as lounges, and this number increases. However, it again comes back to encouraging passengers to spend in the retail area by ensuring through intuitive design that they complete the required procedures in time. Even in any mega aerotropolis, we believe that passengers should not have to walk more than 250m without assistance or a point of interest. Keep them interested, keep them focused and happy. A 2016 research by Rutgers Business School states customers in a state of stress are far less willing to spend than those who are in a positive state of mind.

INTERVIEW TIM MARTIN

get some of the social aspects back into the place, and get people and families together. People, who are leaving on a long trip, or emigrating, want to be able to spend the last few minutes before their journey with family and friends. This, of course, also has the added benefit for the operators because of revenue generation, and for the owners because their airports become more dominant flying hub in the region.

What are the design features which help optimise guest flow? As designers, we need to take the lead in coordinating all the requirements of the operator, MEP guidelines and security, and build them into the design. Give passengers a very clear indication of where they need to head, what they need to do at that point, and what they should expect afterwards. We call them pulse points, which depend on the overall scheme of the airport, such as wall panelling and inset LED lighting. We also try to align pulse points with stress points in the passenger journey, so as to provide a simple direction. In one of our current projects in the region, we have taken the architectural form to create a geometric pattern that we’ve included in the floor and wall design, so that the interior is in sync with the architecture, but the strong gestures give the passengers a clear route to follow, similar to a trail of breadcrumbs. Along the journey and at key pulse points, we enlarge or change the colour of the pattern so the passenger intuitively knows that this is a decision point and they’re clearly made aware of the options they have. At these points, we also have breakaway spaces such as seating, pop-ups, retail and food and beverage options. All of this is in alignment with the regulatory wayfinding requirements of an airport. While there is generally a lot of space and repetition in airports, you can’t introduce design features that are unnecessary. Designing a simple space should not be underestimated. What kind of new spaces are being incorporated into airport design, and what are the main challenges in integrating them with the core functions of a passenger terminal? With airports continuing to have higher usage, we’re finding more pressure is being put on using every inch of available space. With many types of passengers, operators and owners alike are trying to make airports more appealing. Green spaces are becoming more popular within airports — research shows passengers are more relaxed in these types

2. Administrative centre in San Francisco International Airport shows a consolidated back of the house areas.

www.architectandinteriorsindia.com | JUNE 2018 | ARCHITECT and INTERIORS INDIA

INTERVIEW TIM MARTIN

of spaces, which can be multi-faceted and flexible. Concepts such as art gardens and children’s play areas are also being incorporated. In this region, the aviation industry is focused on transit passengers, who may have an hour or six to spend in the airport. While there should be some fixed spaces such as retail, which provides the return on investment and familiarity, for regular passengers, there should be supplementary spaces such as pop-up stands, exhibitions and relaxation zones, which can be changed or rotated regularly to enhance the experience. We’re also seeing a demand to include exercise areas such as running tracks, climbing walls and even well-equipped gymnasiums. Even as snooze cubes and hotels become more commonplace, a lot of people want to stretch their legs during long layovers, hence the popularity of fitness concepts.

3. Executive aviation firm Jetex called upon Perkins+Will to design the private lounge.

What are the biggest challenges involved in designing passenger airport terminals which experience heavy traffic, such as Dubai International Airport? The space needs to breathe with the peaks and troughs of passenger numbers throughout the day, as much as it needs to adapt with the flow. Arriving in a busy airport can be chaotic, but people tend to follow others. So when a space is at its quietest, people often question, whether they are in the right place. A good example of this is the airport check-in experience: a large airport is designed to keep pace with peak time traffic, and a cuing system should be able to automatically change, based on live data picked up from arriving footfall at the entrance to give direction-specific messages. Technology is being advanced to enable this. On the other hand, during quiet times, check-in counters should be centrally located with adaptive wayfinding to let passengers know that they are heading in the right direction. The same logic applies to security as well. While airports are designed for the maximum numbers, we do have to question what happens to the extra space when it’s not being used. Is there a way that this can be utilised alternatively to give operators a further return? The backbone and infrastructure is in place, so why can’t a flexible space be made more versatile in its function, such as a meeting point, or a get together area for the community?

ARCHITECT and INTERIORS INDIA | JUNE 2018 | www.architectandinteriorsindia.com

An airport is also representative of the city it’s housed in. How important is it to establish a brand identity which links it to its location? This is subjective. One school of thought is that the airport is a large faceless processor, whose sole purpose is to be functional and efficient. Hence it should just be a shell with minimal fuss inside. Yet others see their airports as the country’s or city’s business cards. However, this is sometimes taken too literally, and can become gimmicky or themed architecture. We’re often involved during conceptual stage in debating this with the project teams. Recently, a large airport that was under expansion and was preparing for a large sporting event in the city, asked us to revisit their interior concept. Our point of view is that every airport should have an essence of the city or the country it’s located in. It should be in the form of an identity which can evolve with the country and community it is set in. To address this, we’ve to ask two questions during this process: “How does the world see this place, and more importantly, how do you want the world to see this place?” What are the new technologies being used in airport design, and what benefits do they add? In addition to the obvious advancement in technologies in areas such as screening, security, biometrics and self checkin, there are more quirky ones such as the “help me” robots and autonomous vehicles. In the retail sector, augmented reality and wearable technology are increasingly gaining ground. One of our favourite technologies is holographic virtual assistant (HVA), which are easily adaptive and programmable to guide passengers along their journey. This goes back to the earlier point I made about managing cues in peak times. At a recent industry conference, one of the manufacturers explained how some airports are using famous sportspersons or well-known local personalities to record the messages, as passengers are more likely to listen to them than a generic face. On a more serious note, passenger interactive technology should be adopted more to enhance the journey for travellers. However, an airport’s internal spaces, interior architecture and wayfinding should always be able to be operated in its original state, especially in case of the very rare event of a power cut or system hack. A&I

LET’S BUILD RELATIONSHIPS… FOLLOW US ON DIGITAL SOCIAL PLATFORMS AND GET THE MOST INTERESTING UPDATES AND DEVELOPMENTS IN THE INDUSTRY

NOW AVAILABLE FOR FREE ON

ROUNDTABLE HOSPITALITY DESIGN

DRIVEN BY EXPERIENCE A DISCUSSION ON ENVIRONMENT-FRIENDLY DESIGN DEVELOPMENTS IN THE HOSPITALITY SECTOR BY SHWETA PARIDA

he hospitality sector in almost every region is increasingly turning to sustainable practices as a reflection of the current global zeitgeist. With over 2,000 existing properties housing more than 3,46,000 rooms, and more than 600 projects in the pipeline, the Middle East’s hotel industry is growing exponentially. The growth, however, isn’t just limited to numbers;

PHOTOGRAPHS: AASIYA JAGADEESH

existing properties are exhibiting growth in terms of a greater understanding of their impact on the environment, and how to adopt practices that forge a closer connection with nature while minimising consumption. Design plays an integral role in the bigger picture and industry experts agree that the shift in approach is beginning to have a real impact for everyone involved – designers, operators, stakeholders and the hotel guests.

Speaking on biophilia as an important consideration in hotel design, Diane Thorsen, principal, design director at Perkins+Will, says: “We’ve actually moved from luxury to designing with a view to nature and taking location into account. It’s a fabulous opportunity as designers to embrace that because we have the power to combine systems thinking with nature and influence the future. We consider the entire package — not just a lobby and a hotel — to design human experiences.” Adding to the conversation, Hilda Impey, associate design director, FF&E at Wilson Associates, says that human-centric design is contributing to a more dynamic approach. Citing statistical evidence, Impey is of the opinion that hotels are increasingly turning into work and play spaces. “Now, linking it with biophilic design adds another dimension to the bigger picture for a more holistic experience,” she says. “There’s a third space required— kind of like a sanctuary to alleviate stress. In the US, for instance, you can rent the rooms for a few hours to destress or rest. It’s also linked to

ROUNDTABLE HOSPITALITY DESIGN

DEFINING BIOPHILIC DESIGN IN THE LOCAL CONTEXT

the fact that when you travel, you need quality space, for a good night’s sleep to help you relax.” While the adoption of biophilic design is in synergy with the lifestyle requirements of the times, with evident positive results, Christian Merieau, managing director and partner at MMAC Design Associates, cautions against making the course too gimmicky. “I think there is a great opportunity for us to design more meaningful spaces with better awareness,” he says, adding that biophilia also means staying true to the location and the context. Bringing nature inside is perhaps more challenging in the region due to the constraints posed by the topography and the climate. Merieau cites an example of his firm’s project in Saudi Arabia to illustrate that biophilic design in the region isn’t impossible, provided the interior designers work in tandem with architects and landscape designers from the very beginning. “We have a hotel project in Saudi Arabia with low ceiling heights and a garden in the lobby, but features such as these have to be incorporated from the very beginning,” he says.

1. Leading designers gathered for a round table held in collaboration with OFIS and Interface.

www.architectandinteriorsindia.com | JUNE 2018 | ARCHITECT and INTERIORS INDIA

ROUNDTABLE HOSPITALITY DESIGN

2. Maliha Nishat, director interior design, global, Marriott International. 3. Diane Thorsen, principal, design director, Perkins+Will. 4. Hilda Impey, associate design director, FF&E, Wilson Associates. 5. Christian Merieau, managing director, partner at MMAC Design Associates.

Whether it’s gimmicky or not is subjective, but the real question here is whether the market is ready to do that. With Saudi in an expansion mode in the Middle East, and offering premium resort experience for the first travellers from the UK to experience the mystical culture, biophilic design is becoming part of the culture. In addition to the fact that hotels are big businesses that need to be financially profitable, stakeholders and operators are all too aware of the importance of delivering for the demographics. As the world’s largest hotel group, Marriott International Inc owns and operates a number of properties throughout the region, under different brands, and each with a distinct DNA of its own. Westin brand of hotels, for instance, have nature inspired lobbies, which isn’t just a feature, but a requirement. Maliha Nishat, the global hotel giant’s director of interior design for Middle East and Africa regions, emphasises that biophilia isn’t exactly a new trend, and one that’s been around for ages. “Humans and nature have a symbiotic relationship. As designers, we’re constantly looking to nature for inspiration, and the variety in nature isn’t just limited to green plants and trees; we have the stunning sand dunes, for example,” she says. “At Marriott, we have a strong biophilic direction, but there is indeed a fine line between being meaningful and gimmicky, which relates to how much we can do within our region, and introduce natural elements that are more locally-suited.” Concurring with Merieau, Nishat adds that freeze-dried trees and artificial plants do great disservice to biophilic design, which comes with its own challenges in terms of maintenance cost. Representing IHG Hotels, which owns brands, such as Intercontinental, Hotel Indigo, Kimpton, Crown Plaza and Holiday Inn, among others, Cameron McPherson, design director of the new hotels portfolio in the MEA region, says that biophilia was first actively discussed 15 years ago, and it’s taken this long to bring it into effect. However, he remains sceptical about the complete effectiveness of the movement in its present form. “Often these are just gimmicky words to make press, as opposed to common sense,” he says. “We have to ask ourselves: ‘Is it practical, is it sustainable and is it what the guest wants’?” There are brands where guests look for these attributes, and a lot of these brands are outside of the corporate hotel companies. There is

ARCHITECT and INTERIORS INDIA | JUNE 2018 | www.architectandinteriorsindia.com

a bunch of little companies that specialise in biophilic design and excel at it.” McPherson shares that the green wall in the lobby of the Crowne Plaza hotel in Muscat was a mandatory requirement to obtain a LEED gold. The wall is remotely monitored by flora experts in the US, who adjust the water flow and plant chemicals as part of its daily maintenance. He adds that a herb garden was added to the bottom of this wall, which is regularly used by the chef of the hotel’s Thai restaurant. “It’s a talking point, and creates a great environment in a corporate hotel, but it comes at a huge expense, having added half a million dollars to the budget,” says McPherson, who finds that the real integration of these elements provides a living area experience. Matt Hall, regional director, Interface Middle East, shared information with the panellists about the global company’s sustainability-driven design and installation process. “Interface has a long history with biomimicry, biophilic design and sustainability, which started in 1994. Most of our products are inspired by nature, providing a calming sense of well-being for hotel guests. Our modular flooring solutions also reduce costs significantly when compared to broadloom carpets.” He explained the company’s sustainable efforts further: “We’ve just completed and launched our first in-depth biophilic report, focused on the hospitality sector.” According to the report written in collaboration with Gensler and Terrapin, 36% higher occupancy rates are reported in properties with biophilic design, making it a strong deciding factor in travellers’ choice. Interface worked with online booking company, Hotels.com, to determine that hotel rooms with a view to a water body provide 11% to 18% higher return, while this number stands at 12% for rooms with view towards city landmarks.”

CREATING AWARENESS Biophilia is part of the larger conversation on sustainability efforts in hotels, especially the luxury properties, which are among the highest consumers of energy. Independent design and brand consultant for hospitality and lifestyle sectors, Anne de Chaumont says that sustainability can’t be demonstrated through one action. “It has to be a full spectrum of behaviour and care for the environment,” she stresses. “It’s

ROUNDTABLE HOSPITALITY DESIGN 6

not a trend, but a requirement, so it can’t be stopped at being green or using recycled materials. It’s about studying and knowing the impact on the cost and the long term vision, so it becomes a system that will last.” Using durable materials in the refurbishment process is just one of the ways which can minimise refurbishment needs in the future, according to de Chaumont, who was formerly the director of design for Rove Hotels. “It’s more of a state of mind, and little actions complete the bigger sustainability vision,” she says. All the panellists are unanimous in their agreement that not only the designers, but the suppliers, fit-out contractors and hotel operators need to be educated about the benefits of following an honest sustainable approach. “At the end of the day, we don’t buy the materials. From the very start, if we can get the clients on board, it’ll definitely help push the case,” says Shawna McFee, associate, Allen Architecture Interiors Design. “The Dubai Green Building Code, for example, is getting everyone interested. People are beginning to listen and understand that we have a responsibility.” Thorsen reckons that it will take a lot of education to integrate an environmentally-conscious outlook into the design. At the same time, she also argues that LEED standards can’t be the exclusive checklist for this region, and that designers need to consider energy consumption, waste reduction, as well as create local stories. “We have to figure out how to give hotel owners the return on investment, while adhering to the sustainability principles,” she says. “The challenge is focusing on systematic design that’s in harmony with the environment. With an abundance of sand, we should look at how can we use it and innovate.” Contextual design has many inherent characteristics of sustainability and localising it further makes the approach more genuine. Merieau suggests that sustainability can be made more desirable by making it a part of the story. “We have to focus not only on the technical aspects, but also incorporate into the theme and storytelling, since we’re designing for human experience,” he says.

BEHAVIOUR-FOCUSED LOBBIES With lobbies taking centre stage, there’s a new spin on this formerly subdued area in hotels. More than just waiting lounges, hotel lobbies are being transformed into versatile

spaces which cater to a number of diverse functions. Impey says that as people want to work, play and engage in multiple activities in the same space, we’re discovering more facets of this area. Having helmed the design direction of Rove Hotels, a brand which is becoming a popular choice among the discerning travellers, de Chaumont says that it involves a reverse design thinking process. “You start with the experience and pull the strings to make the design happen. People should be able to work, relax or have meetings. This is when you start thinking of ritual designing,” she says. Merieau observes that increasingly guests prefer a customised experience; they want to decide whether they want to have lunch in the lobby, or have business meetings. “We as designers have to change the thinking process, to provide the experience to the guests, but also make it feasible for the operators.” He also points out that it goes against business and operational sense that the lobby areas are buzzing and the surrounding halls and dining areas lying empty. “These spaces are shrinking and they need to be interconnected, offering different moods. Although we are seeing more alternative design, we need better understanding of the local market to offer options,” he says. From an operator’s perspective, Nishat says: “We are looking for a living room environment which is versatile in terms of functionality. There are business centres, communal tables in the lobby, making them truly multi-faceted. In contemporary lobbies, big reception desks are nowhere to be seen, and plug-in points are extremely important.” McFee agrees that such interchangeable spaces are not about altering the identity of the operator, but offering a new experience. McPherson cites the example of Double Tree by Hilton in Business Bay. “That’s what the future of the hotel lobby looks like,” he says about the project designed by Design World Partnership firm. “The hotel provides a sense of place, and touches on all the important points for an experience-driven design,” concurs McFee. Thorsen adds that with blurring boundaries between work and personal life, lobbies are becoming a destination rather than serving specific functions. “They mimic corporate interiors since there is so much cross pollination,” she says. “We have to design for the community, because once you place a hotel in a city, you’re impacting their environment.” A&I

6. Anne de Chaumont, design and brand consultant for hospitality and lifestyle. 7. Cameron Mcpherson, director of design, new hotels, IHG. 8. Shawna McFee, associate, Allen Architecture Interiors Design. 9. Matt Hall, regional director, Interface Middle East.

www.architectandinteriorsindia.com | JUNE 2018 | ARCHITECT and INTERIORS INDIA

GET MOBILE

PROJECTS KAR KHANEH PHOTOGRAPHS: DOT ARCHITECTS

AN OFFICE BUILDING IN TEHRAN BY IRANIAN PRACTICE DOT ARCHITECTS FEATURES A DYNAMIC FAÃ&#x2021;ADE THAT APPEARS TO BE MOVING INTO PLACE

ARCHITECT and INTERIORS INDIA | JUNE 2018 | www.architectandinteriorsindia.com

middle floors, and parking was designated to the ground floor. The rest and recreational areas were placed in the basement. “Considering the small width of the plot, most of the enclosed areas such as the server rooms, filing shelves and bookshelves were packed in the solid boxes on the southfacing façade,” said the architects, “this was decided to increase the efficiency of the space and create flexibility in the interior’s layout.” According to the architects, the vertical access is located at the northern end of the project, while the placement of a void stretching from East to West provides natural light to the staircase. A vertical green wall inside the void also helps

1. The Kar Khaneh office building, Tehran.

PROJECTS KAR KHANEH

esigned by Iranian architecture studio DOT Architects, the Kar Khaneh office building, located in Tehran, consists of a dynamic façade that features geometric elements that appear to be moving and locking into place. Spanning 700m2, the project was designed for a creative firm, whose staff often spends long hours at work, said the architects, which required not only management zones, workstations, meeting and brainstorming areas, but also a space for rest and recreation. While the management zones are located on the upper floors, the workstations and brainstorming rooms are on the

2&3. A void stretching from East to West provides natural light to the staircase.

www.architectandinteriorsindia.com | JUNE 2018 | ARCHITECT and INTERIORS INDIA

PROJECTS KAR KHANEH

4. The South façade is formed by a rhythmic orchestration of solids and voids, which appear to be moving and locking in place. 5&7. A vertical green wall placed inside a void helps generate fresh air for the office. The wall and the planters are watered by an automated system. 6. The sun-bathed interiors of the office building.

ARCHITECT and INTERIORS INDIA | JUNE 2018 | www.architectandinteriorsindia.com

generate fresh air for the office. Due to the neighbour’s 45-degree fillet edge as well as the building’s front border set by regulations, the south façade was informed by a rhythmic pattern that’s resulted from playing with solid masses and windows. “As a result, there are setbacks on the façade which form flower boxes on the urban face of the building and add freshness both from inside and outside,” said the architects. “Also, displaced boxes on the façade cause a dance of shadows during different hours of the day – and result in a dynamic urban face.” With a 10-metre gap between the front border of the Kar Khaneh office and its neighbouring building to the East, the East façade is left blank. And due to city laws and regulations, the architects opted for white cement on all side walls, creating a three-dimensional building mass. The southfacing façade was also covered in white cement. “Risk of cracks appearing on the cement façades was reduced dramatically by adding additives to the cement as well as dividing large areas by U-shaped steel profiles,” said the architects. “The use of double layered anti-static material on the cement reduces absorption efficiency of the cement and also prevents the façade from absorbing dirt from pollution.” To create the façade’s pattern, the architects used a special comb which created the linear horizontal pattern. The green wall in the void near the staircase, as well as the flower boxes on the South-facing façade, are further equipped with an automatic watering system, and can be easily accessed for maintenance. The lead architects on the projects were Arash Pirayesh and Mehran Haghbin, while the design team consisted of Mona Eghtesadi, Tooka Mahmodian and Bahar Ehsan. A&I

PRODUCT LAUNCHES FROM SALONE DEL MOBILE 2018, MILAN

SHOW REVIEW

SHOWSTOPPERS CRAFTED BY CULTURE

Designers, including several from the Middle East, present a range of products inspired by craftsmanship and their cultural heritage.

HAWA BEIRUT BY RICHARD YASMINE Lebanese interior architect and furniture designer Richard Yasmine showcased two collections during Milan Design Week, both stemming from a message to spread love and bring awareness about heritage and the natural environment. One of the the two collections is Hawa Beirut (right) — an Arabic word meaning “a light summer breeze” or a deep love or passion for something. Described by the designer as a “light or airy furniture [collection]”, its forms are inspired by Lebanese architecture, such as arches that are prevalent across the entire Middle East.

FUNQUETRY BY NADA DEBS Funquetry (below, right) explores a playful and contemporary interpretation of the traditional technique of marquetry. Strips of different coloured wood are inlaid to produce what’s known as a “mother”. In some pieces, these are then sliced and shifted to create a break in the geometric pattern. In others, they are applied to what designer Nada Debs calls pleated wood: a triangulated cut into the solid wood. The collection consists of a cabinet, a console and occasional tables with marble surfaces, a desk and swivel stool finished in green leather, a bench, a shelving system and bedside tables. It also includes desk accessories and smaller items with the same playful application too. All are handmade in Beirut using either American Walnut or bleached American Walnut as a base.

POSTCRAFT COLLECTION BY BD BARCELONA Spanish design brand BD Barcelona celebrated creativity in the Arab world through a selection of works entitled the PostCraft Collection (below, left), bringing together designers from five different countries across the GCC, including the UAE and Saudi Arabia. Curated by Samer Yamani, a Syrian-Spanish designer based in Barcelona, PostCraft featured furniture pieces, design objects as well as installations.

“PostCraft is an attempt to draw the creative scene of the Gulf’s postoil era, the major economic shift in the region that will definitely affect all cultural and creative aspects,” Yamani explained. Featured designers include Sheikha Hind Bint Majid Al Qassimi from the UAE, Maysam Al Nasser from Bahrain, Loulwa Al-Radwan from Kuwait, Gazzaz Brothers from Saudi Arabia and Aisha Al Sowaidi.

www.architectandinteriorsindia.com | JUNE 2018 | ARCHITECT and INTERIORS INDIA

SHOW REVIEW

FABRIC FINESSE

As handcrafted textiles continue to be popular globally, designers embrace the trend to present them in myriad forms.

LOEWE Spanish brand Loewe, helmed by creative director Jonathan Anderson, presented a collection of blankets, tapestries (right) and tote bags, forming an expressive collective showcase of diverse craft techniques that have been carefully selected from around the globe. The luxury label’s specially-commissioned, large-scale tapestries feature images of various origins, woven at an atelier in Aubusson, central France, known for fusing traditional craftsmanship with of-themoment digital methods. As a self-confessed fan of fabrics, this year Anderson wished to focus the brand’s annual participation in Milan on exceptional forms of textile crafts from around the world. The landmark project took over a year to develop. Anderson and his team travelled to remote corners in Europe, Asia, Africa and South America, exploring various types of artisanal textile production methods, focusing in particular on workshops that bridged tradition and modernity. The collection features ribbon hand-embroidery from India, items made with the ancient method of boro in a Japanese atelier using highest-grade Japanese fabrics, as well as an exquisitely hand-painted silk tapestry. In Senegal, highly skilled craftswomen applied an elaborate African patchwork technique to achieve the complex patterns Anderson and his team envisioned entirely by hand. Loewe had also sourced an exceedingly rare fabric gathered from the back and neck of the vicuña, a llama-like animal that lives in the wild in the Andes for the collection.

NANI MARQUINA With the desire to transfer the experience and knowledge of the textile world to a three-dimensional element, brand Nani Marquina added the Kilim Poufs collection (below, left) to its catalogue. The architect and designer Marcos Catalán proposed a light, versatile, and user-friendly version of the classic home accessory that combines perfectly with the brand’s products. Aiming to transfer the warmth of the rug to other decorative elements has led to the creation of cylindrical poufs filled with flame-retardant padding inside a birch base, fully upholstered with geometric kilims.

GAN A long-time collaborator of Gan, designer Patricia Urquiola sought inspiration in India for her latest Garden Layers collection (below, right) for the Spanish brand. Urquiola travelled to India, and says that she was captivated by the delicacy and harmony of Mughal architecture she found there. She took her cues from oriental gardens, terraces and miniatures, inspiring a new collection for gardens and outdoor spaces,

ARCHITECT and INTERIORS INDIA | JUNE 2018 | www.architectandinteriorsindia.com

and juxtaposed them on occidental influences such as tartan fabrics, creating a fusion of materials and translating them into versatile pieces. The collection comprises rugs, mats, roll pillows and cushions.

TIMBER TALES

Wood continues to be a favoured subject among designers, who celebrate an interplay of material and form.

classics, enlisted Japanese studio Nendo to launch a new chair, called NO (below, left). This is the first time in 61 years, since Arne Jacobsenâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Grand Prix chair, that the manufacturer produces an entirely wooden chair, one that is contemporary yet maintaining the traditions and heritage of the brand.

TORSION TABLE BY NATUZZI

Italian architect Mario Bellini designed a round table for Natuzzi Italia, equipped with a 2mm extra-clear glass top. Called Torsion (bottom), it ha as support a weave of six petals of solid olive wood, which opens to supp the glass top. Designed as a sculpture, the table features twisted olive wo support, mimicking the centenary plants of Puglia, bent by the winter wi

LIBERTY LOUNGER BY MOOOI

Sculptor Joep van Lieshout set himself a goal: to create one chair per da for a month. He named the project Prototypes as part of his utopian pro New Tribal Labyrinth. This futuristic vision focuses on the reinvention the industrial revolution by recreating an ideal world based on the lost relationship between individuals and raw materials. The first lounger o this series was handmade with no room for mistakes, no sketches and no measuring equipment but purely based on the senses of the artist an the physical interaction with the object. Atelier Van Lieshoutâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Liberty Lounger (below) is the result of intuition showing that a good product needs no adjustments.

DEKAURI AND COSENTINO DeKauri is a freestanding enclosed bathroom vanity (above) created in collaboration with Riva 1920 by designer Daniel Germani. The cabinet is made out of 50,000-year-old Kauri wood, exclusive to Riva 1920. The washbasin is crafted from Dekton by Cosentino.

NO1 BY FRITZ HANSEN Danish brand Fritz Hansen, known for their design

SHOW REVIEW

LIGHT AS LEATHER

Leather upholstered furniture remains a classic choice among the discerning.

FURROW SOFA BY NATUZZI Dutch designer Marcel Wanders has designed the Agronomist collection, inspired by the rich and vibrant Puglian landscape. The rounded sofa covered in reddish-brown leather with saddle stitching references cocoons and shells.

GENTRY SOFA BY MOROSO To mark 20 years of collaboration with Patricia Urquiola, this year will see the comeback of one of the companyâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s best sellers, the Gentry sofa, in a lighter, resized version. The new Gentry Extra Light takes a fresh look at the concept of an elegant, compact sofa whose use extends from the home to communal spaces.

ARCHITECT and INTERIORS INDIA | JUNE 2018 | www.architectandinteriorsindia.com

Edgy new suspended lighting designs launched by a host of companies show the innovative use of materials, technology and form.

HEAT BY NORTHERN LIGHTING Gleaming brass mesh was the starting point for this pendant lamp, which the designer artistically transformed into a glowing cloud of fire. Once the light is turned off, the ‘fire’ disappears, giving the shade a cloudy appearance. Heat (right) was born out of the designer’s experiments with clashing materials, and the inspiration to create a large pendant light characterised by contrasts. The lamp appears fiery one minute, then tranquil the next, creating eye-catching features in either mode.

ARRANGMENTS BY FLOS Michael Anastassiades has designed a collection of modular system of geometric LED elements for Flos (below, extreme right) that can be combined in multiple compositions as single or even connected chandeliers. The sculptural modules are easily fixed together electrically and mechanically, balancing perfectly on each other to create the dramatic effect of a big chain of light. Each combination can be changed any time, with a different order, type or quantity of elements, with no need of technical assistance. “I have always been fascinated with the parallel that exists between lighting and jewellery. Starting from the simple fact of how each piece relates to the human scale: one is designed to be worn on the body whereas the

SHOW REVIEW

CONTEMPORARY CHANDELIERS

other is made to decorate the space someone occupies. I’m challenged by how the delicate nature of something small can be translated spatially and still manage to retain its preciousness in the way materials are presented. It is no coincidence that the word ‘pendant’ has a double meaning. Existing both as a piece of jewellery that hangs from a chain worn round the neck, and a light designed to hang from the ceiling,” said the designer at the launch of his collection in Milan.

MEGA CHANDELIER BY MOOOI The Mega chandelier (below, left) by Marcel Wanders is a custom-made lighting composition made of a unique selection of lamps from the Moooi collection. Each lamp within the chandelier is a nod to Wanders’ fantasy-filled style, which translates into statement pieces and works of art.

LEGATO BY MATTER MADE Italian designer Luca Nichetto presented the Legato (below, centre) modular lighting system for New York-based firm Matter Made. Like a musical score where every note is played in a smooth and connected manner, Legato represents the stave where notes, in the shape of cones, are organised so to compose different melodies. Every lamp is anchored on a rigid structure in aluminium made of several tiers, and individual modules that allow for different combinations. The double directionality of the light sources creates a play of reflections and shadows between the cones, emphasising the volumes.

www.architectandinteriorsindia.com | JUNE 2018 | ARCHITECT and INTERIORS INDIA

NEW ON THE MARKET

PRODUCTS

REGAL GLORY If the recent royal wedding has you interested in all things aristocracy, it might be worth checking out the hallowed Four-Poster Bed by Bouteak. A large classic decorative bed with a tall post at each corner (hence the name), it was popular among the Lords and nobles. Bouteak’s elegant woodwork allows this four poster bed to fit into any modern bedroom with ease, but you can also opt for an ornate bed with jali-work, scrolls, heraldic motifs, floral garlands, and the works.

BOUTEAK Contact person: G Premraj Tel: +91-9940515594, +91-44-28332766 Email: marketing@bouteak.in Website: www.bouteak.in

INTENSELY ORIENT Combining traditional Japanese technique with Indian craftsmanship, Orvi’s new collection Raku brings the two countries together in its line of ceramic surfaces. Raku is a particular style of ceramics that first became popular in the lavish 16th-century Japanese palace – the Jurakudai. Each tile is hand glazed, hand fired and rapidly cooled, and variation in any single factor affects the outcome creating intense colours and unpredictable patterns. Available in both matte and gloss finishes, the tiles can bring life, lustre and lavish individuality to the interior.

ORVI Contact person: Pulkit Agarwal Tel: +91-141 -2735303/304, 2735301/302 Email: marketing@orvi.com Website: www.orvi.com

WATER-RESISTANT FLOORS Pergo has not only reinvented the laminate floor with its new range Sensation, but thanks to its innovative AquaSafe technology, Indian customers will be thrilled to find a laminate flooring that is protected against water seepage. Its water-repellent coating on the plank edges ensures that water can’t penetrate the surface, making the product extremely durable. Available in five exciting oak décors from light to dark colours, Sensation also comes with Genuine Rustic surface texture that accentuates cracks, knots and scraped effect of wooden floors.

PERGO Tel: 1800-102-3415 Email: customercare.delhi@unilin.com Website: www.pergo.co.in

LUSTROUS PRINTS In its new Chevron Collection, RR Decor has reimagined the ever-popular geometric pattern. Instead of the obvious, bold chevron prints, the new line of upholstery and curtain, mimics the pattern through a subtle sheen and weave. The versatile fabric – with a blend of linen, nylon and polyester – creates an elegant sheen, which is enhanced by the solid colour palette ranging from classic neutrals to contemporary bright shades. With its impressive lustre, this satin texture fabric offers glamour and luxury in the most vibrant manner.

RR DECOR Tel: +91-11-41731107/08, 46068777 Email: export@rrdecor.com, admin@rrdecor.com Website: www.rrdecor.com ARCHITECT and INTERIORS INDIA | JUNE 2018 | www.architectandinteriorsindia.com

Inspired by Indian art and European design aesthetics, ‘Living Room as Rich Tapestries’ by Beyond Design is a collection you just cannot miss. Each living room is a clever mix of styles from around the world, exquisite materials and unique textures that unfold like a rich tapestry of aesthetic stories. Coupled with signature, stand-alone pieces, each with its own unparalleled allure, they come together beautifully to complement the living space. Whether it is elegantly carved, brocade-upholstered sofa chairs; the black, high-gloss mirror coffee table; brass side tables in curious shapes; crystal lamps and an intricate set of Gothic mirrors; or a black leather sofa that is paired with a velvet-upholstered sofa chair – each set is a symbol of sophistication.

PRODUCTS

AESTHETIC STORIES

BEYOND DESIGNS Tel: +91-11-26804180/4183 Email: contact.beyonddesigns@gmail.com Website: www.beyonddesigns.in

THE X-FACTOR Express style in bath spaces with the smart design and high-quality finish of Vitra’s X-Line Faucet series. Comprising built-in washbasin, bath models and kitchen sink faucets, this series is defined by its solid build, durability and soft contoured design. The winning streak comes with the fact that it is environmentally-friendly thanks to Vitra’s water saving aerator, making it an economically viable solution for urban homes. What’s more, you can choose this new series in dazzling gold finish if you desire to match functionality with opulence.

VITRA Contact person: Gayatri Palande Tel: +91-750670039, 1800-123-1134 Email: customercare@vitraindia.co.in Website: www.vitra-india.com

TURKISH DELIGHT Bring Turkish minimalism to the decor with the famous Turkish Brand Rendi Mobilya – available in India thanks to IOTA Boutique Furniture. From high-end beds, dining furniture, to sofas, Rendi Mobilya has developed a reputation for crafting luxurious furniture with wood, metal, leather and luxury fabric. A key feature of their designs is how materials are blended with neutral colours to create minimalistic designs that are rich as well as marked by surprising patterns. It’s these playful juxtapositions and layering that define the furniture collection by Rendi Mobilya.

IOTA Tel: +91- 9958492212 Email: ask@iotafurniture.com Website: www.iotafurniture.com

URBAN ETHNIC Relying on its strength of re-interpreting the ethnic and indigenous into a modern product palette, Cane Boutique has brought forth an exclusive array of sofas and divans. Bow Divan is a low-seating option defined by its fluid shape, made in wicker and complemented with a contemporary fabric. Classique is a bespoke modern teak wood chaise with bold upholstery colours brightening the space. Retro, on the other hand, is a charming young design, a minimal and elegant Diwan created with wood and cane combination. Each hand-crafted piece is well fitted with upholstery on a finished framework, creating a distinct urban vibe.

CANE BOUTIQUE Tel: +91-80-41152093/2891 Email: info@caneboutique.com Website: www.caneboutique.com

www.architectandinteriorsindia.com | JUNE 2018 | ARCHITECT and INTERIORS INDIA

PRODUCTS

PH1 PAVILION This new series of pavilions by Kettal offers an integration to adapt to the architectural environment. It can be used in different environments, such as landscapes, architecture, urban environment, waterside and mountains. Its minimalistic structure creates open spaces that flow freely into each other by means of light, transparency and lightness of the frame made out of aluminium. It can be teamed with any of over forty covers for indoor and outdoor spaces.

KETTAL Website: www.kettal.com

KOSMOS PARASOL The Kosmos round parasol (left) has an ingenious design and opens out horizontally like a fan, but hangs low enough to provide plenty of shade, as well as offering wind resistance (wind force six on the Beaufort scale). It features two hidden magnets that keep the parasol open, and which release their grip in extremely windy conditions. For rain-heavy areas, a simple leather strap keeps the open parasol slightly inclined so that water can flow down. While the shade of the parasol is made from high-tech polyester, which is very robust and UV resistant, the holding frame is made out of stainless steel to withstand extreme weather conditions.

EXTREMIS Website: www.extremis.com

FAZ PLANTER Spanish company Vondom commissioned designer Ramon Esteve to create Faz planters that can be used both indoors and outdoors. With faceted, modular shapes, the planters can be combined with any furniture. Its upholstery is available in high quality nautical canvas or polyester fabric. It is also integrated with internal lighting using RGBW LED technology and remote control unit for switching colours to provide ambient lighting in the evenings.

VONDOM Website: www.vondom.com ARCHITECT and INTERIORS INDIA | JUNE 2018 | www.architectandinteriorsindia.com

PRODUCTS

SPACE FRAMES Studio Mieke Meijer has always pushed boundaries when it comes to working with different materials. Space Frames are especially eye-catching because of their flawless attention to detail and a sense of “lightness” due to the use of aircraft fabric materials.

STUDIO MIEKE MEIJER Website: www.miekemeijer.com

CURRENT CURRENTS Lighting can be a powerful tool in an interior, and these products have designed it for that exact same reason. The collection is based on the idea that an electric current is a fundamental part of our home interiors and appliances. And rather then tuck it away, Vantot takes a different approach by designing innovative, low voltage lighting objects that step away from the traditional concept of a lamp and a power cord.

VANTOT Website: www.vantot.com

REVOLT CHAIR

The Studio table by Thomas Feichtner has got the perfect attributes with a simplistic clean look to cater to any type of workplace. With its minimalist design and smart functionality, the modular workplace system allows you to create a work environment to fit your personal and professional needs. Tables, shelves, sideboards and accessories come together in a flexible arrangement that refines your individual work – and lifestyle.

Ahrend furniture has always been known for its superior comfort levels. The Revolt Chair by Friso Kramer is no different. The design and it’s simplicity laudable — just two planes and the moulded frame, which can be mass produced. No wonder that it has won a permanent place for itself both in the business world and in Dutch living rooms.

BENE

ROYAL AHREND

Website: www.bene.com

Website: www.ahrend.com

STUDIO

www.architectandinteriorsindia.com | JUNE 2018 | ARCHITECT and INTERIORS INDIA

THE BIG PICTURE MEERA DEVIDAYAL

SEA…SAW…REFLECTIONS

he sea is the protagonist of contemporary Indian artist Meera Devidayal’s recent exhibition titled Water has Memory at Chemould Prescott Road in Mumbai. Throughout her long and fruitful career, the artist has attempted to turn the ‘found image’ into a visual metaphor, and charge it with new meaning. In this collection, the trigger was an office building surrounded by other office buildings; the sea just around the corner, unseen, suddenly appearing as a reflection in a window, as if asserting its presence (quietly) to those who had displaced it with a concrete jungle. Reflecting on the sea, Devidayal says, “It has its own

ABOUT THE ARTIST

1. Mirage; 2018; mixed media (digital print, acrylic and charcoal) on canvas; 39 x 127 inches. 2. Meera Devidayal, the artist. 3. A still from the video Water has Memory; 2018.

Born in Delhi in 1947, Meera Devidayal grew up in Kolkata. After her BA in English Literature at the Loreto College in Kolkata, she studied at the JJ School of Art in Mumbai from 1971-1974. Since 1975, she has been exhibiting solo and in group shows, mostly in Mumbai, but also in Delhi, Vadodara and Kolkata - among them at India Art Fair, New Delhi; Field of Vision, Gallery Art & Soul, 2014; Beyond the Canvas, Tao Art Gallery, Mumbai, 2013; A New Mediatic Realism, Baroda; The Search (Paintings from NGMA Mumbai), Muscat, Oman, 2004; Icons and Symbols, CIMA, Kolkata and Delhi, 2002; Kitsch Kitsch Hota Hai, Gallery Espace, Delhi, 2001; Nayika (Heroine), Tao Art Gallery, Mumbai; Lakeeren, Mumbai, 1996-1997; Contemporary Miniatures, CIMA, Kolkata, 1994; Artists from Western India, Birla Academy, Kolkata,1992; Artists Alert, SAHMAT, Delhi, 1989; 7 Women Artists, Art Heritage, Delhi, 1983. Though essentially a painter, Devidayal has used a variety of mediums in her work - including photography, video and even objects like taxi doors and recycled metal sheets. She has taken part in a few public art projects as well, the most recent one being a 40ft x 6.5ft mural created with recycled metal, wood and mixed media at T2, CSIA, Mumbai, for the art project curated by Rajeev Sethi in 2012. Earlier, she designed a 54ft mural for Tardeo police station in Mumbai in 2007, and has painted a train bogey with Open Circle - a group of activist artists, during the World Social Forum, Mumbai, 2004. Devidayal has also worked with children from the Akanksha Foundation on collaborative paintings for charity auctions in Mumbai in 2003 and 2001. The artist lives and works in Mumbai.

ARCHITECT and INTERIORS INDIA | JUNE 2018 | www.architectandinteriorsindia.com

mind, its own voice, and its own memory. Man has treated it as an element to bend to his own needs and, indeed, his own greed, by chipping away the ocean to gouge out more and more land to build on; he has turned it into a dumping ground for his garbage. He thinks he is in control. But the planet has been striking back in its own way. Hurricanes, tsunamis, floods and droughts are very much the result of man’s insensitivity to the planet.” With this broad framework as her canvas, the artist has used video, photographs, paintings and texts to tell her story. The grey area between appearance and reality in the human situation, has been central to her work. Here, the sea becomes the metaphor for this exploration. The images are from Devidayal’s experience of life around her, as well as from happenings across the world. “In Mumbai, where I live, life seems to revolve around construction and acquisition. Bigger and bigger, more and more, it seems to be an endless chase in the pursuit of happiness. Or is it just a mirage?” questions the artist. This chase has led her to view the sea as ‘passage’ – the idea that it has historically been the medium through which people travel and migrate to greener pastures. Where will the sea now lead us? Will it be merciful, or cruel, in its infinite wisdom, she wonders....and so does the viewer. A&I By Maria Louis Note: ‘Water has Memory’ by Meera Devidayal concluded at Chemould Prescott Road, Fort, Mumbai, on May 12. For more information, please visit www.gallerychemould.com