A sojourn through Spektrum unfolds as a passage through a luring, chromatic universe at the edge of Bangalore city.
Ingenuity, most folks assume, is chanced upon when one delves into the unknown head-first, and comes out the other side triumphant, a solution in hand. Under ordinary circumstances, this holds true. But Spektrum’s story reaps a different learning. Spearheaded by Principal Architect duo Kavin Prasanth and Sabari Vijayakumar, the practice’s take on the venue’s spatial rejuvenation leads one to an unconventional realisation. Fresh starts don’t necessarily mean blank slates, and that is where the genius of design is born!
Bangalore’s Kempegowda International Airport has long garnered a polarising reputation. The city’s traffic snarl has created a boom in the hospitality realm in and around the airport, offering guests a wide range of accommodations during their visits to the Garden City. The topography is populated with hotels and inns galore. How does a space command attention? “By standing out,” chimes Kavin. “Spektrum came to us at a stage that would make most studios rightfully nervous. The building’s architecture was complete, but our clients wanted to push the envelope and entrusted us with a rehaul. We were to contend with the site’s preexisting conditions while being cognizant of the significant financial investment the clients had already made. This was a challenge in a typology that was new to us, but we were ready,” he reminisces.
Designed for Ar. Jefferine Santhosh Elred Kumar, MD – EK Group, Spektrum marks his company’s segue into the hospitality industry, one that rests at the confluence of his passion for design and travel. His impetus behind founding the new-age boutique space is steeped in personal recollection, “As an Architect and avid traveller myself, I tend to choose hotels that go beyond comfort. I seek spatial design, brand ethos, and culinary identity. Chancing upon the property felt serendipitous. I was determined to build something distinct.”
With research hours spent wading through hotel listings on the internet, the compass pointed in the direction of design that was unique, pragmatic in its upkeep, and one that did not shy away from making a statement! Kumar’s design brief has a wholesome backstory, he quips, “My father is a 50-year-old man. When work began at the site, he expressed a single desire. He wanted to feel at least 20-30 years younger while staying at the hotel! Something vibrant and youthful was the way to go!” And what better way to do this than with colour — the façade a perfect canvas. Spektrum employs a colour-blocked front elevation to announce its arrival amidst a landscape of run-of-the-mill properties. An audacious cameo slices through the monotony of the neighbouring architecture. Contrast champions the narrative through a pivotal addition of red against the building’s pristine white expanse, morphing with the sun’s angle and time of day.
“We transformed the basic all-white rectangular elevation into an asymmetric portal, a rich, deep red colouring the void’s depth. The colour is deep and emotional in its quality, synonymous with the Indian subcontinent,” illustrates Sabari. The prominent splash of red in the volumetric composition is streaked by greenery, the landscape softening the portal’s angular silhouette that seems to unlock another dimension within. A lattice of metal box sections extends beyond, creating the building's second skin over which terrace vines will cascade. At dusk, the structure stands beacon-like, its warmth emanating from the built envelope. “With commercial spaces, each square inch counts. Our revival of the elevation creates a landmark in the vicinity, making Spektrum an easily recognisable venue that registers in one’s memory,” highlight the Architects.
The bold employment of red gives way to a serene scene of neutrals in the reception. Kavin explains this shift with a fitting analogy, “We smell coffee beans between testing perfumes. This is to reset our senses, which in turn, helps us distinguish better. The choice of a neutral scheme for the reception follows the same principle. It creates a pause after one’s encounter with the dose of red and calms the vision in preparation for the vivid colour palette we have employed in the rooms.” Botticino marble strengthens the perception of spatial fluidity, its creamy-white hue traversing the floors, walls, and monolithic furniture. Within the hollow of the double-height volume, a cluster of globed pendant lights levitates, adding to the space’s warmth. A lounge section and vibrant art spruce up the area, injecting a whiff of colour into its pared-back yet tactile shell.
‘Celestial’, the hotel’s in-house restaurant, operates as the property’s social nucleus, drawing guests for everything from leisurely meals to quick coffee pit stops between the room and lobby. Though minimal in its make, the space anchors an array of details. The inner edge of the restaurant anchors angular, culled-out niches, their outline mirroring the façade’s form. The niche’s interior is lined with a sunny ochre tile variety, marking the debut of colour-blocking indoors. Designed to prioritise functional upkeep, the tables have marble tile tops and deep-toned wood furniture. The crown jewel, though, is the bespoke light installation the team conceived and executed in situ. A series of five-metre-long light tubes are sinuously arranged along the ceiling’s underside, creating a dynamic sculptural feature. Kavin recalls, “The lighting installation was entirely impromptu in its execution, and that was its beauty. If we attempted to rearrange it even today at the site, it would reap an entirely different outcome!”
When it came to the rooms, the Architect duo struck a well-measured balance between functional necessity and spirited whimsy. “It was about extending small yet meaningful comforts to the boarding visitors. We designed three distinct room styles so guests could have a totally different experience each stay. The common thread remains the young, playful use of colour in elements and to demarcate zones within,” Sabari shares. When a retreat-like ambience, privacy, and a tryst with colour is on one’s mind, the suite rooms make for the perfect fit! The journey into the room begins at a private lounge housing a study nook, its modern and colour-steeped persona concocting a warm welcome. The crisp geometry of vertical lines is a leitmotif across the hotel’s rooms, lending spaces a sense of symmetric rhythm and enlarged volume.
The rust-toned lounge wall serves as a focal feature, its flutes carrying onto the louvred sliding door that partitions it from the resting chamber. Choice of furniture remains muted, allowing colour to mark its zesty attendance. Beyond the threshold, the sleeping quarters are imagined as tufted headboards with accents of colour seen in surface finishes, upholstery, and objects of interest. Warm wood laminate grounds the space, travelling from underfoot to select furniture, providing the perfect neutral canvas for colour to shine.
In the deluxe rooms, the design team introduces geometric interplay into the spatial experience. “Here, colour and forms create an illusion. This contributes towards forming an atmosphere that feels immersive, cocoon-like,” says Kavin. While the design language remains consistent across rooms, the studio weaves in a signature surprise, giving every space a distinct fingerprint within the larger narrative. A series of slatted profiles in red frames the headboard, manifesting in an optical illusion of receding depth, a clever play on perspective! Artwork by Artist Zahra Baldiwala of Studio Ruining Magazines complements the hotel’s saturated colour palette, underscoring its contemporary sensibility.
One design hack the team swears by is the tactful use of paint, the Architects explain: “With paint, the upkeep and renewal is an easy task. And it makes for a financially sustainable option, too. The spaces are chameleonic in nature; a change of coat completely transforms the room’s vibe in no time.”
Hues assume a ribbon-like appearance in the standard rooms, their presence wrapping around the room’s edges like a striking swath of colour. Vertical profiles make a comeback in the form of the ribbed wainscoting, tying back into the dominant visual grammar of the accommodation units.
And what if you crave sweeping city views and streamer-like contrails left by passing planes? You head to Spektrum’s terrace lounge. The fiery dash of tangerine in the outdoor furniture comes alive against the monochromatic greys of the space. The fountain grass emerges from the concrete planters with abandon, blurring the boundaries between the built and the panorama beyond.
Dot Bot Studio’s creative intent has given Spektrum’s entrepreneurial beginnings a home and its guests a keycard that lets them escape the mundane. “Stepping into a new industry is equal parts exhilarating and enriching! The genuine love and appreciation the space has earned have encouraged us to expand our operations. The journey thus far has been made more remarkable, kudos to the collaborators we shared our vision with,” signs off Jefferine.
Kavin and Sabari’s takeaways are laced with reflection, “It was when we learnt that rebuilding was not an option that we were nudged in the direction of innovative ways of giving the venue a new lease of life. We were able to give our clients more than they could have fathomed. Our roles go beyond the space’s design. The one thing that kept coming up through the course of the project was that the hotel had to feel different — in the way it was perceived, in how it was put together, and in what it ultimately became. So, when we started hearing that very sentiment reflected to us, through word of mouth and in-person feedback, it felt like an affirmation.”
A home away from home and a kaleidoscopic journey through colour, Spektrum is anchored in the quiet confidence that untapped potential reveals itself to those willing to look just a little deeper than what meets the eye.
