Airports are where the sweetest stories are told, the saddest tears have fallen and a conflux of meetings relationships and acquaintances have formed! A city’s airport is its key hub and can become a jewel in the crown of a country’s infrastructure. India’s populace has increasingly become upwardly mobile with more people opting for air travel over other modes of transport. And while they travel across geographies, they’re looking to collect experiences like never before.

One such experience we at UJ (D)esigns have attempted in our project is to design a luxury lounge in an airport – The Aranya Lounge.

Airport terminals and lounges witness long waiting hours inside large spaces which could become tiresome. With Aranya Lounge we aim to alleviate some bit of this discomfort. With this design, our objective was to transform a cumbersome, annoying wait into that of relaxation, comfort and bliss.

And what better way than to go back to nature for inspiration! The entire lounge is a manifestation of cool fresh greens offset by the warm, cozy textures of wood.

Essentially the lounges’ key objective was to incorporate natural elements into a space that typically looks whitewashed with cushioned chairs. The lounges design is built around a Lotus Pond resplendent with a curved waterfall curtain that doubles up as an ornate, classy background for the bar counter. The glass greenhouse would house indoor sustainable plants that attempt to bring the mighty outdoors inside. With an entire wall and pillar of vertical hanging gardens, the lounge ensures that waiting travellers are refreshed naturally.

Seating being of prime importance at any lounge space, the terminal offers a variety of seating spaces that cater to different moods and needs of travellers. For business travellers, the lounge offers them a Wi-Fi enabled and electric charging zone with comfortable formal seating to work or conduct discussions. A two stepped amphitheatre style seating overlooks the serene lotus pond and flowing water curtain that lifts the mood of fatigued travellers. And those looking to catch a quick snooze can easily store their luggage into the luggage rooms to rest hassle free in comfortable easy chairs.

The design intelligently allows for spaces of relaxation with comfortable seats and private nooks, to rejuvenation and recreation with a high-end food and bar junction, lounge chairs and spa services.

Complementing nature’s greens is thought behind using wood through the entire design. Parametric wood ceilings work perfectly at airports to ensure the right acoustics while sculpting an aura of movement and fluidity. The flooring has been designed in wood to encapsulate the warmth of coming home while being aesthetically supportive of the earthy browns found in nature. Textured wooden surfaces add a touch of luxury to the lounge. The contrasting wood shades are reflective of how no two trees or plants are similar in nature, thus adding a distinct touch of uniqueness to the spaces in the lounge.

With Aranya lounge we have attempted to unify the grace and fluidity of nature with the tenacity and strength of wood, to deliver a space that can be enjoyed by every traveller.

THE MALWARA HOUSE

A house in the land of royals, means living within your own cosy palace in Rajasthan! Designing for one such house in Malwara, Rajasthan, a local native village located about 750kms north from Mumbai, the financial capital of India, building a sustainable residence in accordance to the weather, is more of a necessity than being conscious. The house thus designed not only uses locally sourced raw materials and skilled labour, but also incorporates environmentally conscious solar system and rain water harvesting techniques for a better living, an initiative promoted well by the government of Rajasthan especially in the rural areas.

Malwara being situated in a dessert, scorching heat is a way of life, which meant the design had to ensure a cooling exterior, thus using thicker walls made from locally available dholpur stones. Each door, window and skylight use locally sourced timber to ensure it withstands the rural weather conditions.

This gorgeous homely abode has multiple influences of famous Rajasthani palaces. Intricate jalis and screens on the roofs and on the exteriors to conceal ducts and plumbing, create an interesting play of light and shadows over the entire exterior and interior of the home. Rooted in Rajasthani architecture, the house provides a courtyard, a central space within that connects the kitchen and double height living areas. Airy pergolas on the terrace with jali walls and a small vegetable garden in the landscape, combines a touch of royalty to the self-sustaining house.

While being aesthetically modern and city like, the Malwara House, engrains the traditional regional architecture of Rajasthan. Each design component being carefully thought through, this residence exudes the concept of living a self-sustaining lifestyle while being grounded in the resident flavour of Rajasthan.

The internal form for this college library is derived from a heat map, where a diagrid layout of 2′ by 2′ grid is superimposed over the heat map and is extruded near the red concentric area.

Extrusions so formed in the floor area, follow a certain hierarchy and are consciously sculpted to create a drama of juxtaposed boxes, transforming them into book shelves cum seating space. Lights emitting from the floor area tries to make the space look floating.

The Mondrian art work is Incorporated in the walls where an array of coloured dummy books (Mondrian colours) are replicated & stacked in the grid to add a character to the library walls.

Natural light crucial to reading mood is incorporated through large floor to ceiling window spanning over the entire longitudinal wall.

The stepped seating within double heighted space along with abundant natural light has been the key design concept for this college library where in it becomes a reader’s sanctuary for the college students.