AURIGA

Project title: Auriga, Mumbai, India

Program: To convert an old factory warehouse into a restaurant and bar.

Site characteristics and constraints: The site had a 40-year-old warehouse. Its existing thick walls were remade to create large openings allowing the internal spaces to view the trees fronting the site.
The most constraining factor was the adjacent structure would still look like a warehouse and the clients were convinced by us to create a new frontage for the entire structure of which the restaurant and bar occupied only one third of the area.

Construction system: On all interior sites large amounts of plywood strips are generated as residue which is then wasted. Upon seeing large piles of such wastages on the interior site of a hotel, the idea took germ of creating a design that would use these leftover strips to create a design thus reducing the material cost to a negligible amount & simultaneously using waste material which would otherwise be disposed of. Looking for similar wastages from other products it was found that air conditioning ducting too generates large amounts of leftover strips that eventually find their way to a junkyard. These too if used in a design would create something at a minimal cost & reduce the need to dispose of the metal. These two materials constitute the entire envelope that gives shape to the night club & restaurant being used effectively to create a sculptural space while using wastages & avoiding expensive disposal systems.
Carpet Area: 3800 sqft

Design description: An old factory warehouse was stripped off its external walls to allow the insides to be infused with natural light and create a view of the large trees along the road from its internal spaces that were transformed to a restaurant and a nightclub.
The upper level with a better view, houses a restaurant space and the lower level opening into an outdoor patio is a nightclub. Angled planes in strips of wood sculpt this entire space sheathing the walls and the ceiling together. The entire building exterior is created in a web of aluminum fins that are folded in angular planes. This geometry is carried through into the interior of the ground level where the web is more abstracted and sheaths the walls, ceiling, staircase, bar and columns. Partially open and partially enclosed in strips of galvanized metal sheets that are backlit, the entire space is rendered sculptural with the integration of all design elements within the abstractly woven web.

On all interior sites large amounts of plywood strips are generated as residue which is then wasted. Upon seeing large piles of such wastages on the interior site of a hotel, the idea took germ of creating a design that would use these leftover strips to create a design thus reducing the material cost to a negligible amount & simultaneously using waste material which would otherwise be disposed of.
Looking for similar wastages from other products it was found that air conditioning ducting too generates large amounts of leftover strips that eventually find their way to a junkyard. These too if used in a design would create something at a minimal cost & reduce the need to dispose of the metal. These two materials constitute the entire envelope that gives shape to the night club & restaurant being used effectively to create a sculptural space while using wastages & avoiding expensive disposal systems.
In this sense the interior design of Auriga becomes a sustainable project. In addition, the lighting is almost entirely with energy saving LEDs, the stone flooring is locally sourced and the windows are double glazed to reduce heat gain in response to the city’s climate which has an average temperature of 30 to 35’c through most of the year.
In this two level restaurant and bar, the lower level is almost entirely sculpted in metal strips forming abstractly folding planes that envelope the walls, columns, ceiling and bar counter. The entire design was created with the integration of light with every panel having spaces between the metal fins for indirect colored light to filter through.
The use of metal itself as the predominant material was done so that light reflects on its angled surfaces creating a sculptural light effect. Each louver of metal in each triangular panel is angled to allow light to reflect its edges. The varied composition Creates different effects on each panel by the reflected color change LED’s that backlight them.
The eventual result is that only the lines of light are visible angling differently in each part of the bar with dimmable halogens focused on the tables and the bar. Floor lights along the periphery bounce light off the metal sheets throughout the space additionally.
At the upper restaurant level angled planes in strips of wood sculpt the entire space sheathing the walls and the ceiling together. To enhance the varied angles of this sculpted space, floor lights along the columns and periphery reflect light onto the angled planes enhancing the textural quality created by the wood.
Lighting has thus played a pivotal role in the design from the conceptual stage itself, becoming an integral element of the spaces and their perception.