THAI ME UP
By : Shimul Javeri Kadri
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This little building stands on the busy Lamington Road surrounded by rundown buildings noisy hoardings, cinema theatres and glitzy stores.
Building Typology : A narrow long building surrounded by " house gullies", 2'- 0" to 3'- 0" wide on the average. The load bearing - brick structure was restrenghened some point with steel beams and columns at every 10'- 10"and slabs of steel and shahabad were laid to create the floors. |
| Our Challenge: To exploit fully, the character of this rather whimsical structure - to enhance it and breathe life into it as a place for celebration. The other challenge as with all such spaces was to accommodate the services - especially air - conditioning in so tight a space. |
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What we did : No false ceilings! We used the house - gullies for AC ducts the thickness of the coba for the electrical conduits and succeeded in retaining a clean structure. We enhanced the structural elements with wood in parts and exposed the steel in others.
Thematically, on all three floors, the illusion of " openings" has been dramatized. |
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On the ground floor, the punctures in the walls look onto the walls of the neighbouring building, but their presence distracts from the monotony of the long & narrow space.
The first floor uses lively dummy windows to create the same impression and the top floor dramatises the effect with colonial gothic railings set against midnight blue walls. |
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