113

LOCATION: Bangalore
YEAR: 2022
BUILT AREA: 8000 sq.ft
PHOTOGRAPHS: Niveditaa Gupta

113 is an office building on a 2,400 sq ft site, that accommodates our studio on two levels, with two additional floors for future multidisciplinary use. ...

One's own office is likely the most difficult self-initiated project for an architect to embark on .It involves answering several questions that transcend personal choices, instincts and stylistic leanings. We imagined a space of minimum bias, a neutral environment for creative thinking, with several anchoring devices and moments – ‘narratives and extracts’ from our projects and pursuits.

Shell and enclosure:

Flanked by buildings on the North and east (and imminently on the West),the shell is designed to hold the core and building services at the rear, with an uninterrupted floor plate towards the street to draw light from large recessed glazing. We worked with a limited palette of four materials for shell, infill and experience – concrete, lime plaster, glass and steel panels. These four materials combine in several ways, as ensembles on the exteriors and interiors.

Our design studio is located on levels three and four. A series of pivoted louvers (from ideas for a façade prototype) in perforated steel and birch ply, form a loose partition device between the entry lobby and the rest of the studio. A lighting spline, sets off from this edge weaving through the studio, as the primary source of illumination on this floor. A perforated steel platform in nonchalant red, creates a diaphanous connection between both floors. Several other streaks of colour cut through the office as distractions, to draw attention to specific elements, intersections and circulation.

The upper level is used for meetings and events. Movable partitions allow for flexible configurations during client presentations and socials, spilling over to a terrace and garden. The break out area is that much-needed lung space in a taut urban setting and in many ways has been crucial to the studio’s pulse and well-being. read more