SJK Architects, directed by the principal architect Shimul Javeri Kadri with Design Directors Vaishali Shankar, Sarika Shetty, and Roshni Kshirsagar, is an award-winning firm that has acquired notable Indian and International acclaim. The firm includes practices like master planning, architecture, and interior designing. The approach followed in this firm uses sun and wind to produce an ecologically sound and naturally beautiful environment.
Their use of contemporaneous innovations influenced by the Indian traditions won them the World Architecture Festival Prize in 2012, the Futurarc Green Leadership Award (Singapore), the E+D C and Tucker awards (USA), the ArcVision Award (Italy), Prix Versailles Award (for architecture and interiors) in 2016, the Chicago Athenaeum Museum of Architecture and Design in 2016. They had also won numerous national awards from the IIA and IIID.
Here are 15 projects by SJK Architects that will leave you mesmerized.
1. Nirvana Films’ Studio, Bangalore, Karnataka | SJK Architects
Nirvana is a film production firm that thinks out of the box and adds an element of surprise – an untried benevolent stance on creation. Similarly, their workspaces operate through the connection of synapses as it creates ideas, unlike a private and isolated space. Designing this film studio had many challenges, like the small corner plot, busy urban neighborhood, and the FSI requirements. But, finally, a ‘box’ built form emerged, a light structure with no beams and inclusion of only three materials, namely – wood, concrete, and glass. It doesn’t require electricity for light and ventilation. The ventilation is taken care of by huge skylights and courtyards. The built form reflects a building where light and shadow, thought and interaction between the protagonists.
2. The Dasavatara Hotel,Tirupati
The Dasavatara Hotel, located in the tranquil suburbs of Tirupati in the foothills of the Saptagiri range, is one of the very few projects in the country that strikingly takes after the Hindu Temple Design in organization and experience.
The brief required the construction of 121 key boutique hotels on 13150 sq. m of land. The classical elements of traditional temple architecture are distilled in the contemporary built structure through a central open courtyard and a water body, where the all-day dining space floats. The water body forms the core of the hotel both spacially and experimentally. The core values reflected through this design are simplicity and divinity, whereas the interiors reflect craft, mythology, and symbolism that weaves a story.
3. The Leafhouse, Alibag, Maharashtra | SJK Architects
In the foothills of Alibag, in a plot of 1.3 acres of land, a family home of 650sq.m is built. The land is adorned with native coconut trees, mango trees, and neem trees and also lights up during the dawn from the eastern hillside. The very first sight of the plot yielded a site plan made up of dried leaves. The planning has produced small pods that overlap and are distinct to each part of the house. The native trees encompass the carved open space.
Slowly and steadily, in the progression of building this home, other elements of the built form like the doors, windows, and domestic contrivances took a natural shape. The main challenge while constructing this house was the amalgamation of natural forms into a serene and natural environment for the family.
4. Art Deco House, Mumbai, Maharashtra
A simple, minimalistic house that echoes simplicity through every inch. This home gives out a rustic ambiance following the color palette consisting of brown and white shades. There is a beautiful amalgamation between the brick walls, wooden furniture, and architectural elements. This home has been equipped with generous openings to let in sunlight which adds to the existing aura of the space.
5. SR University, Waranga, Telangana | SJK Architects
The SR University started in 2001 on the outskirts of Warangal on a 28-acre plot. The master totals up to 5.11 lakh sq. ft. The master plan design was to
- establish a strong sense of character and a unique identity
- To provide spaces for the students that allow for informal discussions and growth out of the classroom.
The master plan of this university consists mainly of pedestrian pathways and a provision of a ring road for the vehicles. The academic buildings are G+2, and the newer residential hostels are G+5. The plastered walls and Kota stone give out a raw texture. The other structures, including Block1, Block2, Library, student union block, hostels, and workshops, have a unique identity.
The built form trusts mostly on solar orientation and wind channeling with the provision of courtyards and plazas that provide adequate comfort and encourage the usage of outdoor spaces despite the heat factor.
6. Bellad and Co., Hubli, Karnataka
A simple conventional office project initially stabilized with beams, columns, and a slab. But, from the road, there was a curved galvalume roof. Later, after planning and execution, the office shifted one floor higher with playful volumes created by the curved roof, and open outdoor terraces surround the office spaces with lush greenery. The interiors of the office space used black cudappa floor, concrete partitions, and ply doors. The ceiling is all about light, the sunlight creeks in through skylights, through terrace gardens, and highlights the neutral palette of raw materials.
7. Hotel at Bodhgaya, Bihar
The hotel at Bodhgaya, built for Marasa Hospitality Private Limited, is one of the holiest and oldest sites of pilgrimage for the Buddhist world, as Buddha received enlightenment in Bodhgaya. By understanding the context of the site and the city, the indigenous materials, and the appropriate techniques, SJK architects extensively used bricks, a regional industry that has been active in the area for over 2000 years. The structure uses the language of the bricks from the Buddhist trail – the craftsmanship of brick vaults, pillars, and architraves. These elements in design evoke emotions associated with the Buddhist practices – wisdom, courage, compassion, forbearance, and perseverance.
This beautiful masterpiece, spread across 4.5 acres of land, completed in 2020, creates an ecologically sustainable space and highly contextual Buddhist resort by incorporating courtyards, water bodies, and sloping roofscapes.
8. Jain Heritage Museum, Koba, Gujarat | SJK Architects
The ongoing Jain Heritage Museum in Koba, Gujarat, was commissioned to SJK Architects by Shree Mahavir Jain Aradhna Kendra as a depository for the existing collection of Jain artifacts. The campus consists of a temple, a library, hostels, and dining facilities for tourists as it is a frequent stop-over for Jain pilgrims. The museum lies on a 2-acre land sandwiched between the temple and the hostels. The initial plan of the structure derives from a mandala that lifts itself entirely off the ground with a shallow water body in the center. The light and ventilation in the built form enter from the courtyard, and it depicts a calm lime plastered exterior with Jain motifs and glass jharokhas.
This project creates an environment that draws from the heritage of the religion but creates a contemporary community space.
9. Ayurveda Health Center, Mumbai, Maharashtra
SJK Architects designed a 5-story building for Dr. Pankaj and Dr. Smita Naram in the narrow, crowded suburbs of Mumbai. This structure stands on a 600 sq.m plot surrounded by residential buildings. In this little world of Ayurveda resides a restaurant, boutique, an OPD waiting for 100 people, treatment rooms, a beauty parlor, a health club, nursing rooms, and a basement auditorium. The building attempts to portray the representation of Ayurveda as a contemporary science rooted in Indian tradition. The design depended on the articulation through openings like balconies, setbacks, and jharokhas.
The main challenge faced was to build within the regulations of Mumbai’s D.C. and setback rules.
10. Automobile Design Studio, Mumbai, Maharashtra | SJK Architects
Mahindra and Mahindra Ltd. commissioned SJK Architects to design a revolution in the automobile industry – a styling studio in Mumbai. The main challenge was to retain the footprint and the original M.S. portals to build an entirely new facility with offices, workshops, display areas, and recreational spaces. The materials used in the built form are concrete and steel. The play of light and shadows and the minute steel details led to a light design.
11. The Crafted Workspace, Karur, Tamil Nadu
Synergy Lifestyles wanted a factory constructed for a home textile company in Karur, Tamil Nadu, with a comfortable environment for their workers. After studying the local climate, SJK architects generated a built form linked with courtyards and passive energy-saving techniques. They used the local labor who specialized in various processes, like gable walls, stonework, country-wood joinery, and metal hardware.
The built form has been nested in 18” thick rubble masonry walls that act as an insulator to the outside heat and eliminates exterior plaster or painting.
The roof was vaulted, built with terracotta blocks that allowed shadowy north-south light. Several courtyards in the west reduced the heat gain through vegetation buffers. These vegetation buffers also filter the wind brought in through the west. The attempt made through this built form was to create locally in a transnational context, both functionally and aesthetically.
12. The Tropical House, Bangalore, Karnataka
SJK Architects planned and designed this tropical home for the Mahtaneys in the busiest areas of Bangalore, amongst the airport, coconut trees, a dirty Nala, mosquitoes, and airplanes. The initial design yielded a house with courtyards and an easy flow between the indoors and the outdoors. The house highlighted volumes, simple textures, natural stones, and exposed RCC ceilings. The sun rises at the entrance and goes along the axis of the house, penetrating the central skylight in the living room and setting in the final courtyard of the axis, giving the home its essence.
13. JSW Visitors Centre, Hampi, Karnataka | SJK Architects
The site gives out the absolute essence of Hampi – the Tungabhadra river in the background, coconut and banana plantations in the front yard, and a 15th-century Shiva temple on the far corner. The purpose of designing the JSW Visitors Centre was to enlighten the tourists about the architectural history and heritage of the locality before reaching the temple. The design uses no steel or cement and relies only on natural stone, wood, banana fiber, and coconut fronds. The planning includes a series of pavilions that form a pathway leading to the temple and the surrounding consists of the famous Hampi landscape. The pavillions have overhangs that shut during the night, protecting them from dust and animals.
14. Courtyard Factory, Bangalore, Karnataka
After their factory construction in Karur, Synergy Lifestyles wanted another factory for their home textiles in an industrial area in Bangalore. They wanted an efficient box-like built form to guide this project. But later, the efficiency of light, large north and east windows, and a simple plan directed this project. A courtyard and verandah separate the two main functions of the built form, namely the office and factory, with a sense of drama created by the curved roof of the patio.
The overall ambiance of the place determined the difference in proportions, structural thickness, and the presence of coconut trees.
15. Ambattur Clothing, Chennai, Tamil Nadu | SJK Architects
A building that represents Indian architectural ethos, both stylistically and climatically. Located in Chennai, the initial call was to orient the built structure optimally for propper wind flow and protection from harsh sunlight. The facade, adorned by red sandstone, shades the form from the extreme south sun and shadows the lush green terraces at every level. The naturally lit office areas heighten the sense of light and space, with coconut and mango trees visible from every turn and also the presence of tall frosted glass storage.
For internal meetings, there are semi-covered terrace spaces, and for impromptu discussions, there are lush green spaces between the departments. The purpose is to create a spiritually refreshing building that uses simple, natural materials and still has the crisp efficiency of a multinational business environment.
16. Neoteric Informatique, Mumbai, Maharashtra
A commercial building designated for a land of 10,000 sq. ft completed in 2013 is a fun, energetic, and youthful office in an old building with giant columns and a very high density of people. The interior wall is textured and beige in color. The office radiates an antique aura in a modern sense with concerning the interiors.
Reference:
- Sjkarchitect, www.sjkarchitect.com.
