GRAPHITE INDIA HOUSE

BANGALORE, KARNATAKA

Partner in charge: Gopa Menon
Design Team: Sagar and Roopa
Client: Graphite India
Year of completion: 2007
Area: 6,800 sft.
Contractor: Krushi Builders
Civil: B L Manjunath & Co.
Landscape: Kavita Shastry
Photography: Ideogram

The project was a corporate guest house in an upscale neighbourhood of Bangalore, for Graphite India. The premises had to include a 5 bed room guest house with all amenities and attached living spaces. The program though simple, posed the unique challenge of dealing with a transient user scenario. This offered an opportunity to explore the design aspects of dealing with luxurious interior and exterior spaces.

The vegetation on site was a main factor in the design approach, dictating the orientation of the entrance and the positioning of various courts and landscaped areas. The massing of the building was simple and reflective of clean lines and contemporary volumes. Guest room and living sections are evidently seen as separate masses. Floating roofs and slabs lend a sense of lightness to the whole structure. Earthy tones are emphasized with materials such as slate and bison board on the exterior while clean plastered walls reflect the purity of the interior.