AND Studio based in south Delhi, India, headed by Ar. Love Choudhary, with a team of 17 members handling diverse typologies of projects from residential, industrial, institutional, religious, commercials to mixed-use developments, including working on the interiors with a plethora of explorations. The core philosophy of this studio is client-centric design, contextually appropriate, sustainable, and timeless architecture.
AND Studio provides a myriad of services; master planning, interior design, graphic design and branding, product and industrial design, and architecture. Styles of the projects range from classical to contemporary according to the needs of the clients and to create a unique piece that stands out from the locality but not in totality. Here are some of the projects by AND Studio:
1. Garage Inc | AND Studio
Garage inc is a modern-day refurbished café in an existing heritage site in Colaba, Mumbai, with an area of 3650 sq. ft designed by AND Studio with a contextual fabric of Colaba in mind. The café gives a raw, rustic, and archaic feel, with a groin vault acting as a roof. The 28-year-old fresco, ceiling, and flooring were left untouched as reminiscent of its origin. The pinnacle of interior ambience is the accent lighting serving as functional as well. The furniture was carefully handpicked to blend with the history and modernity of the café.
2. DLF Magnolias 1823 – Interior Design
A luxury four-bedroom penthouse interior renovation project of area 8000 sq. ft, at the 23rd floor of DLF Magnolia, Gurgaon, designed by AND Studio, breaks the stereotype of luxury from mere wealth to class, quality, and sophistication by coalescing materials that are understated yet simple and decorative with the colour scheme to enhance the quality of materials and work, to serve as a compliment instead of overshadowing them. This penthouse features a spiral staircase. To invoke tranquillity, the stairs are set against a dark grey slate milieu with water trickling down it.
The lower floor consists of a living, dining and a bedroom. The living and dining spaces use a colour palette of white and grey. A black lacquered glass frame separates the living and dining. Brass-toned tables, rustic chairs, built-in crockery, palissandro grey stone table for dining, and ivory-grained black marble wall adds to the level of sophistication. The upper floor consists of 3 bedrooms, including the master bedroom and an entertainment lounge. This project won WA Awards 2020.
3. Dream Pavilion – Dream Curve
A pavilion competition was to design an interactive public space based on the concept of dreams. Ar. Love Choudhary, CEO of AND design studio in partnership with Benjamin Felbrich, designed a pavilion deriving the form of the structure from the position when a man is asleep when seen from the aerial view and the position of an awakened man from the normal eye height.
The skin of the pavilion was made up of individual modules of laminated rice paper inspired by the dandelion. The main structural system of the pavilion is the steel pipes with customized supports to hold the dandelion-like modules. The pavilion covers up an area of 60 sq.m of the site area of dimension 11m x 7m. The 2200 stripes that hold the rice paper, like the stem of the dandelion, are made of glass fibre to conduct light from the inside steel pipe, which is the main structural system to the leaves. This project by AND Studio has won the WA Award for the year 2017.
4. Residence at Nandi Hills
Nandi Hills is a famous tourist spot in the state of Karnataka. AND Studio was approached by a couple to design a retirement home for them in this blissful hill with the requirements of taking a climate-oriented approach with sloped roofs, and adequate sunlight and ventilation. The project is of site area 146.79 sq.m. It took a vertical design with 3 floors and a partial basement.
The basement is for parking; the first floor is for the living area, the second floor imbibes the bedrooms, and the topmost has a working area for artistry. The entire triangular prism structure is wrapped up by a single concrete curve on the exterior. The sunlight enters the home through a skylight above, bringing the home to life as one of the famous tourist attractions to Nandi hills is watching the sunrise. This residential design by AND Studio has won the WA Award for the year 2020.
5. Sri Ramarchan Mandiram | AND Studio
Sri Ramarchan Mandiram, designed by AND Studio seated on a site area of 2.15 acres in the heart of Ayodhya city, Uttar Pradesh, India, had the principal notion of telling the tales of the prime lord of the temple, Lord Rama, and the traditional north Indian temple architecture to give the devotees and visitors an educative spiritual experience. This project won the WA Award for the year 2017 for AND Studio. The contemporary outlook of the temple design, along with heavy and intricately carved details, makes it an architectural pleasing structure.
The main temple complex is situated on the east side of the land facing north, a promenade with high walls and a lotus pond serves as an entryway to the temple. A trabeated passage leads people to the promenade of the temple from the entrance. The passage is roofed with creepers for shading. The Baoli forms the focus of the temple with Stepped Kund.
6. The Seventy Villa at Noida
The seventy villas (F70) residence of 10,000 sq. ft designed by AND Studio is classy, modern, and luxury defined in terms of spatial planning and composition of materials. The entry of the house is through a pivoted door at the centre with transparent walls on either side. Large windows and huge balconies impart grandeur visuals to the residence. The vertical gardens located at various spots of the house do not only serve the aesthetic purpose rather bring down the summer heat.
The spiral staircase to the west with the glass façade, the modern bedrooms with huge glass walls, the triple-height sky-lit living room being the focal point of the house, highly functional kitchens with huge glass windows, all these enhances the life of the space through the light and shadow play concept bringing warmth to the interiors.
7. Stone Showroom
This commercial 5000 Sq. ft stone showroom for Varsha granite has a marvellous façade to replicate the nature of the project, that is, the stone quarry. The lower floor is a glass structure crowned by a rock manifested grandeur façade. It seemed like the rock was floating in the air as the base was transparent. The transparency of the lower interior connected with the outer surrounding and optimal use of exhibiting space was obtained. AND Studio also designed the industrial building for the same client.
The conventional kind of material store display was shattered in this project. The double-height display space and the sculptural concept of display of products were the highlights of this store. This makes the clients have a view of the materials in a more practical manner. The seating provided for the clients was also designed to suit the theme of the stone store.
8. Supple Tek- Industrial Building
AND Studio designed an industrial building of a site area 75000 sq. ft at Amritsar. The site is set in a neighbourhood emphasizing horizontality and modern interpretation of earthiness; hence, to blend with the surrounding structure took up a horizontal approach and used the concept of brutalism. The outdoors is knit with green elements detailed down to boundary walls.
The double-height entrance, upon entry, is flanged by a sloped green terrace on either side of the entrance. The central corridor leading to the main building, which is of a metal arcade with a slim water channel that is inviting, is covered by wooden pergolas on a cobblestone stone paving tile. The central focus area has a spherical skylight with a stagnant water feature.
9. SPC Towers
This is a proposal for a commercial tower at Noida by AND Studio of area 53000 sq. ft. This structure stands tall with pride in breaking the stereotypical outlook on towers by coming up with a dynamic façade standing out in that locality.
The furniture was designed with the concept of fluidity in the interiors to blend the exterior and interior of the built structure. The balconies forming the façade were lined with LED lights that give an elegant tinge to the façade at night.
10. NRI City Entrance | AND Studio
AND Studio had to revamp the landscape of a road section and rotary to enhance the function and aesthetic quality. A contemporary deconstructivism-style entrance arch was also designed for the same. This project had a play with the landscape part of architecture, adding to the diverse architectural typology practices of AND Studio.
11. Vivekanand School | AND Studio
AND Studio approached a school proposal of a site area of 2.5 acres with the concept revolving around themes like energy, artistic, proactive, welcoming, and blending in with the surrounding. Simplicity is the highest sophistication. Following this mantra, this contemporary design followed a simple yet profound design language. The accent features were highlighted with brown wooden textures.
12. Cultured Cafe
A space of 1200 sq. ft in a dwelling at the Humayun street of Safdarjung Enclave, New Delhi, was designed by AND Studio as a café, with the requirement of an open plan and should also be designed to cater to the yoga classes run on Sundays by one of the owners. The design was not only to enthral the visual appeal but also the sense of smell.
The open live kitchen filled the air inside the café with the aroma from the foods being prepared drawing in customers. The seating was all placed at the periphery leaving the central space clear of any obstructions. There wasn’t one type of furniture set but rather a combination of diversity like the swings, bar stools, et
13. Infotainment Centre, Asprovalta, Greece
A competition entry proposal for an information + entertainment = infotainment centre in Greece was a competition entry by the AND Studio. This project paced forward with the core of making the structure speak of the traditional past, aspirational future, and present Greece. The site sits between the beach of the strymonic gulf of Greece and an existing development area 1, which comprises water land and sports development, touristic development, amusement park, and theme park. This project has won the WA Award 2017.
The concept of form evolution had its base in the myriad topographies; mountain, plateau, valley, plain, shore, open sea found in the entire Greece. The stretch of land for development was divided into five zones based on the spatial hierarchy: entry zone, leisure zone, translation zone, outdoor exhibition zone, and indoor exhibition zone. Exhibition spaces were designed in a manner that the usage of materials and forms spoke of the historical past of Greece. Cycle track wraps up the entire site.
14. Boutique Hotel at Amritsar
This astounding four-star hotel by AND Studio is built in a site area of 5865 sq. ft at Amritsar. Unlike the traditional methods adopted while designing hospitality buildings, this hotel has a dramatic façade made out of fins that attracts people near and far.
The fins are highlighted utilizing accent lights on the exterior while playing the light and shadow effect on the interiors during daytime. The entrance adapts the grandeur design of the façade and adapts the same. The interiors of this hotel are of luxe contemporary style. The rooms are made of colours grey, brown and white. The bathrooms are all finished with marbles of white and a black accent wall with white grains.
15. D-112, Noida | AND Studio
A dramatic residential design by the AND Studio at Noida is a structural play of concrete volumes of arches. This 450 sq.m plot has a circular entrance with a central pivot. The interior of the plot is lit by the skylight above a green space found next to the staircase. The quarter convex arch façade is balanced by a similar arch for the parking on the other side, making it a semicircle.
References
Anon, (n.d.). Available at: https://www.andstudio.in/projects.
Anon, (n.d.). Available at: https://worldarchitecture.org/architecture-projects/hhvch/dream_pavilion-project-pages.html.
Anon, (n.d.). Available at: https://worldarchitecture.org/architecture-projects/hpzgh/infotainment-centre-asprovalta-greece-project-pages.html.
Anon, (n.d.). Available at: https://worldarchitecture.org/architecture-projects/hhvee/sri-ramarchan-mandiram-project-pages.html.
Anon, (n.d.). Available at: https://worldarchitecture.org/architecture-projects/henhm/residence-nandi-hills-project-pages.html.
