Typically a commercial complex is conceived as a generic glass box or clad with materials like ACP. The consequent result of such surface articulation results in the clichéd result that we mostly see around us. When we set out to conceive the project, which was situated on a tight site measuring 60’ x 40’, the idea was to conceive an envelope that rose above the glass box while it established a new identity and visual experience.
We understood the importance of the glass façade to enable successful functioning of a retail facility with high visibility. We set out on a process of distorting the glass box with a solid edge around it, we further conceived the transparent edge as a void in a solid as opposed to a two dimensional transparent edge. The object was further articulated as a chiseled object which is multi faceted. A staircase connecting ground to the first level was further fused with the faceted object. The crystalline form was realized using Ferro concrete whose end result was an animated box, frozen while evolving.
Functionally, the ground was set free for parking and the building hovers above. A staircase and lift core connects all the three floors of the commercial complex and the penthouse above. Keeping the faceted feel of the outside consistent with the inside, a figural void is carved out as an atrium that spatially connects the floors of the commercial complex. The inner surface of the faceted box is given a different effect by using laser cut compressed fiber cement board. The penthouse above is programmatically detached from the commercial establishment below.
