The Koramangala Club in 2016 announced an invitation-based competition for an Annex building. SDeG’s winning proposal captures the club’s prevailing sentiment while weaving a new design language and experience for its users.
Project Name: The Koramangala Club
Studio Name: SDeG
Design Team: Balaji T, Sujit Nair, Aayush Bhaskar, Fayeza, Anjali Raisa, Abhishek Bhaskar, Larratz
Project Team: Balaji T, Sahana Saravanan, Samhitha, Shanmathi
Area: 69 sq.m
Year: 2022
Location: Koramangala, Bangalore
Photography Credits: Suryan & Dang
The club, located in Koramangala’s residential neighbourhood comprises three existing buildings separated by two open liminal courtyards used for leisure and entertainment. The Annex placed at the centre of the plot transforms the ground floor into a transient junction for its users while the floors above accommodate a series of community halls and F&B spaces that spill over to wide public corridors. They form the social ‘edges’ of the project that bind diverse functions while forging relationships within and across buildings.
Two entry walkways splice through the building weaving the foreground to the now-enclosed courtyards at the back. As you move through the building- termed by the principal architect, Sujit- ‘the moments of difference’ become evident sectionally by toggling disparate ceiling heights on both internal and external faces of the building. The user experience is one of openness as you meander through the vertical stacks. Life begins to exist in those moments (of pause) between hallways, (straying from typical arrangements) to define new motivations and purpose for users who navigate social spaces at different paces. These freedoms also foster new encounters with the courtyards.
The project adopts a neutral palette to influence usage and ambience. Textures and colour intersect in various ways to proffer subtle distinctions between exterior and interior spaces. For instance, there’s a gradient decrease in texture from exterior (grit plaster, perforated screens) to interior surfaces (polished wood, acrylic paints). The veranda (open gallery spaces) envelopes the building at all levels and enables interludes over coffee and conversations. An ensemble of metal railings and copper-tinted screens symbolise reinterpreted motifs, reminiscent of old Bengaluru’s charm in a modern setting. The design draws references from the culture of Gymkhanas in textures like grit plasters and beige finishes to evoke an earthy nostalgia. Laminated glass, metal bannisters and sophisticated warm interiors bridge these notions and re-formulate spatial experiences.
The voids in plan also punctuate the facades to form deep recesses and segment the building, breaking down its linear form. Occupants move freely between and across these public edges, discovering unintended routes and experiences through a variety of interactions within and between buildings.
About Studio:
SDeG was founded by Sujit Nair and Aruna Sujit in 2007 with a vision to address the many possibilities in practice that emerge from fluxes in culture, politics, socio-economic patterns, belief systems, and capital, resulting in an architecture of wide-ranging circumstances. They aim to consistently experiment and switch tactics swiftly to liberate design from predetermined and preservationist notions. The practice believes in creating architecture of overlapping attitudes, technologies, and techniques, that respond to fluid project situations and contemporary urban transformations.
