Commercial Design June 2015

Contents
June 2015 Volume 2
Issue 10
23
10 BULLETIN
A roundup of the latest industry news from across the
country.
14 Interview
Vivek Khamparia, national head – RE Facilities, British Telecom,
on the role of in-house facility management in the overall
administration and operation of the organisation
16 event review
A review of the IBM Think Turf and the Samsung Green Turf
organised in Mumbai and Ahemedabad respectively.
20 TRends
Flooring and furniture design in the hospitality segment are
fulfilling the highest standards of form and function
23 Cover STORY
Profiling the top 10 hospitality architects and designers and
some of their recent projects.
49 products
What’s new on the market.
Khozema Chitalwala
Shabnam Gupta
Siraj and Renu
Hasan
Ketan Jawdekar
Ritu Bhatia Kler
50 OPINION
Rahul Gupta on finding answer to the diminishing natural
elements as material for design.
20
Sumessh Menon
Bobby Mukherji
Sumeet Nath
16
4 | June 2015 | Commercial Design
Yeshwant
Ramamurthy
Sarabjit Singh
Editor’s note
June 2015 | VOLUME 2 | ISSUE 10
A sensory experience
It is been famously quoted that you taste the
food first with your eyes. It is also said or that
you are loyal to the hotel brand where you get
a luxurious experience. Since most surveys,
opinion polls and market researches authenticate
this point, then the onus of a successful
hospitality space weighs heavily on the architect
and designer. They are the ones who trigger and
initiate the sensory experience that could make
or break the restaurant or the hotel.
With this in mind, we have put together India’s
top ten hospitality architects and designers
in this issue – people who are responsible
for creating some of the most talked about
hospitality spaces in the country. Serene and
underplayed or wild and funky; their design
sensibilities give expression to spaces ranging
from a cafe or a club to theme restaurants and
a five-star property. According to each one
of them, the main aim while designing was to
translate the aspirations of the owner, within
the brand (or industry) standards into a design
language that matches the guest expectations.
This is a celebration of your aesthetic senses
with the best hospitality design professionals
being part of the issue. A point to ponder here
is the secret of their success! The answer (in
unison) from them is ‘collaboration’. When all
the stakeholders are on the same page, it can
only lead to success.
We hope that this issue enhances your
reading experience, and the next time you dine
out or check into a hotel, do notice how your
senses respond to the decor – and we shall rest
our case!
Babita Krishnan
Editor
babita.krishnan@itp.com
ITP PUBLISHING INDIA PVT LTD
Notan Plaza, 3rd floor, 898 Turner Road
Bandra (West), Mumbai – 400050
T +91 22 6154 6000
Deputy managing director S Saikumar
Group publishing director Bibhor Srivastava
Group editor Shafquat Ali
T +91 22 6154 6038 shafquat.ali@itp.com
EDITORIAL
Editor Babita Krishnan
T +91 22 6154 6042 babita.krishnan@itp.com
Deputy editor Rashmi Naicker
T +91 22 6154 6041 rashmi.naicker@itp.com
ADVERTISING
Director Indrajeet Saoji
T +91 22 6154 6024 indrajeet.saoji@itp.com
Regional sales manager South: Sanjay Bhan
T +91 9845722377 sanjay.bhan@itp.com
STUDIO
Head of design Milind Patil
Senior designer Vinod Shinde
Contributor Sanjay Bandre
PRODUCTION
Deputy production manager Ramesh Kumar
CIRCULATION
Distribution manager James D’Souza
T +91 22 6154 6001 james.dsouza@itp.com
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Editor: Babita Krishnan
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6 | June 2015 | Commercial Design
Published by and © 2015
ITP Publishing India Pvt Ltd
RNI No. MAHENG/2013/52810
Cover Story
Yeshwant Ramamurthy,
Studio One, Hyderabad
With a practice spanning
over three decades,Yeshwant
Ramamurthy has donned several
roles through his career other
than that of an architect – he is a
professor, a facilitator, an activist,
an editor, conservationist and
many more. Having executed over
80 projects, the core competence
of his firm, Studio One, is in
hospitality design. The practice
is based on the principle that
realises that a client commissions
a designer primarily to ply the
role of a catalyst – to turn
their aspirational vision to built
reality. Responding to this, the
firm customises their creativity
for each project by merging
practicality and technology with
simple aesthetic sensibilities that
express client convictions through
a vocabulary of professional
expertise.
40 | June 2015 | Commercial Design
Cover Story
Jubilee Hills International
Club, Hyderabad
The 20-year-old Jubilee Hills International
Club, created for the residents of an affluent
neighbourhood, needed an image makeover
to comply with the emerging globalised design
style of upmarket Cyberabad, where majority
of the demographics are IT entrepreneurs. The
brief called for unifying several disparate existing
structures with a common design character,
renovating them and upgrading the services.The
areas for design intervention were the arrival
plaza, reception foyer, lobby-lounge and coffee
shop. Rather than creating rigid vertical and
horizontal surfaces to separate these spaces,
by using fluid tensile fabric structures on steel
frames, the tree-covered forecourt was visually
drawn into the buildings as a vital part of the
experience. Architecture, interiors and landscape
were merged to achieve a seamless alfresco space
that appears and feels like a tropical resort.
Taj Mahal Hotel, Hyderabad
While redesigning interiors of the 60-year-old Taj Mahal
Hotel that aimed to shift gears to cater to its modern
up-market neighbourhood within the embrace of its old
charm, Ramamurthy aimed to retain its original elegance and
splendour. Dakshina Mandapa, the 70-seater buffet section,
strongly evokes sensibilities of the south through its vibrant
silk batons that fan across the canopy. Pantings of Yakshagana
dancers leap off their vast canvases, paying tribute to this
ancient narrative Natya from the homeland.The relaxed
Asian ambiance that defines the decor of the rooms conveys
a refinement of interior styling.The decorative ceiling of the
banquet hall incorporates acoustical panels and sparkling
crystal chandeliers in hand spun Ikat frames. Hushed colours
and warm wood panelling weaves the thread of traditional
elements with modern interiors.
Cafe Sandwicho, Hyderabad
“A young, modern landmark to grab the potential
customers” was the brief given to the studio for designing
Café Sandwicho, located on one of the busy main streets
of Hyderabad. Built on a simple grid of exposed concrete
columns, the transparent volume of dining space, spread
over three levels, conforms to Vastu parameters.The
unconcealed style is created through exposed spiral
ducting, form-finished ceilings and the unabashedly overthe-top use of colour to create the mood for youth to
chill-out. Customer ratings of the restaurant are testimony
to the success of the firm’s design that lure one with is
simplicity and vibrancy.
Commercial Design | June 2015 | 41