‘Rooh’ is our architectural studio, located in the heart of Kakkad, is an art gallery where the work space breaks conventional office layout with each design reflects art and sculpture and a commitment to sustainability. 'Rooh' the Arabic word which gives us the meaning of 'my soul' is our soul space to design and to develop our art of architecture .The traditional red oxide and the concrete flooring and the building waste which was created by demolition of the rear wall was used to make the partition block along with the jali create a sustainable approach to the design, the mould then re functions the duty of a planter box in the facade of "Rooh".
This is a design which reciprocate our thoughts of art without any timeline of Architecture, we don't have any existing theory to explain we just want to make our frame of art and its application in the existing canvas. We made our palette with natural shades with sustainable approach of materials. Here we follow a fusion of natural material with an asymmetrical application of Natural material in its raw form.
We found beauty in Imperfection, this our art house, which comprehends our feelings to architecture, this is a commercial shelled structure which we converted to our workstation. It has a combination of 2 rooms having 4 spaces with very needful space starts with the entry and waiting simply separated with PVC pipes with the discussion desk, we tried to depict the unevenness of nature. The ability of nature is its flawless attitude, the cement and, terracotta colour plays a major role in this design to give us an earthy atmosphere. The main workstation was a partition of sensuous barrier without any hidden activity. Through the main opening light defuses to the nearby spaces with round jali. In order to make a voluminous space we avoid the conventional approach of partition and ceiling. The round jali's sweeps natural lights make the space character intact.
Two big openings being for light and ventilation, in order to keep our privacy by closing the buffer zone of the commercial building, and to give a nature focus by a drum tree in front of ‘rooh ' that dramatically explains the nature character of is design spot. Certainly, the curved wall keenly represents an insight for the entry with the narrow arch.
The rear side of the ‘rooh’, there is a small alley, the opening overlooks the alley, so we cover one fourth of the opening with green, that systematically creates a nature character to cabin along with proper lighting. As an architect our thoughts and design development are not developed from a single posture, so we made a different orientation to our space with flexible posture.
"Human beings feel a sense of stability within an architecture surrounded by nature “these tadao Ando’s words direct us a nature filled art of design to this project.
Literally this is a 570 sqft 2 shops, so we wanted to suck the nature sculpture into this existing 90-degree walls and slab, so we created sculptures which depict the basic building materials in its exposed nature and including its beauty with a ran pattern along with whitewashed existing interlocked wall turning it into a textured backdrop that whole space gives us a standing ovation just like an art piece. And try to bring green patches to it. And we made the furniture with mild steel, which is a very light, flexible material that balances heavy exposed sculptured structure with raw metal finish, it’s an open workstation, with an illusion of divisions and entries. We have played with materiality along with our lines of art camouflaging the functional aspects and having fun with the arches and the volume that crafted our soul space. The random rubble is the vein route of the twin character space it behaves as a media room along with the workstation which leads to the wall with no boundaries. Here we have gone through the undertone of grey, white and Red for the entire volume. The coarse aggregate in inlays of concrete flooring been like a reflection of the inner core of structure to its transparency along with the arched Rebar. The jali come out with the duty to cover up the existing plumbing line in the exterior structure. The entrance organised with front desk and a built-in waiting slot with a black and white painted PVC pipe partition curated the visitor just to give a sculptural identity along with functionality. The whole custom-made furniture give life to our soul space ‘rooh’. No core space in this design, particularly all spaces are special for us, the artist of this spaces are the team members of ‘Is design spot’ experiencing their own soul space. The harsh southern lights are cut off with cats’ clove and other plants dramatically create an amazing visual aesthetics.
Creating a fresh concept with a few colour palettes with less investment of unconventional use of materiality was the major challenges while dealing with this space. Proper use of natural light is the main challenge for a design studio in the mid of a commercial building.
Team:
Architects, Interior Designers, Landscape Architects, MEP & HVAC Consultants, Environmental & Sustainability Consultants: Is Design Spot
Designer:Ar.Selva Sidiq.N
Project Managers: Ar. Selva Sidiq.N
Photographers: Hamdan Muhammed
Materials Used:
Finishes: Brick
Construction Materials: Concrete,brick,jali
Lighting: Aksons Associates
Windows: Fassade De Eco Solutions
Furniture: Metallo
Flooring: Kwalkrete
Paint: Asian Paints
