The client brief was to design a commercial complex on a very prominent and busy road in a tight urban site. The fact that due to massive urban development in last two decades, the green cover of city has depleted drastically. We took it as a challenge to provide the inmates with open lung spaces and create a buffer between the inmates and the busy, noisy, polluted node in the city, especially after the pandemic.
What struck us most was the presence of a huge tree on site. These two characteristics helped us formulate the generative diagram for the conception of the project. We decided to conceive the plan, such that the building weaves around the existing tree, not just physically but also phenomenally in a way that it becomes part of the experience. The second important stand taken was to wrap most of the building with a thick layer of green along with a modern interpretation of traditional jali screen.
The idea of the jali with green was twofold. The jali screen would enable us to cut down the harsh sound from the street traffic and the general humdrum of the city. It would also cut the harsh light that would infiltrate the interiors. The traditional jali was re-imagined in a contemporary pattern to form a light ephemeral veil for the interiors. We infused life into this jali by juxtaposing it with a layer of curated plants. The plants protected by the jali help create a soft ambience in the interior.
We further placed the core of the building along west side to cut down on the harsh sunlight veiling in interiors. Most of the spaces open up to the strip of green. An atrium cuts through the building to connect the various floors both visually and spatially.
