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SOMAYA & KALAPPA CONSULTANTS
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ARCHITECTURE : CONSERVATION : INTERIORS : COMMUNITY PROJECTS
West End Hotel, Bangalore
The West End Hotel in Bangalore - a british cantonment, a pensioner's paradise and the fastest growing city in india today. The colonial influence is strong and could be felt until recently. There also exists a rich tradition of vernacular architecture, the british bungalow and grand palaces. Amidst all this on 18, acres of property in the heart of the city, a motley group of buildings existed called the west end hotel. Our task was to establish a unifying style for the restoration and renovation of the existing buildings and further expansion of public and guest room areas.
The oldest building of the site was built in 1887 by mr. & mrs. Bronson and major additions were constructed in 1905. These blocks are amongst the best examples of the "bangalore gothic" styles of architecture. The salient features being the multi-planed tiled roofs, gables, dormers, monkey-tops, trellis work and intricately carved fascias.
The first phase was the restoration of some of the buildings built in the early 20th century. We then went on to the next phase of renovation . This covered the new buildings constructed in the 1950's. These were the buildings where we made the maximum additions and alterations both in plan and elevations to enable them to blend in with the earlier construction. The existing victoria structures were carefully studied and the forms abstracted and used for these buildings as well as for the several new guest room blocks we added.
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A book on bangalore has stated that the addition to the west end hotel are a model of architectural integration displaying a studied regard for the value of the setting. If this truly has been accomplished then we as architects could ask for no more. |
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India
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