© Ravi Kanade
- Architects: Abin Design Studio
- Location: Santiniketan, West Bengal 731204, India
- Architect In Charge: Abin Design Studio
- Design Team: Abin Chaudhuri, Poorvi Dugar Ajmera, Angshujit Mazumder
- Area: 2585.0 ft2
- Project Year: 2016
- Photographs: Ravi Kanade
© Ravi Kanade
‘Bonochhaya’ is an exclusive housing project themed around the heritage of Shantiniketan, which as a place, is a tribute to the legacy of Rabindranath Tagore. It is a project for a luxury retreat with a rural, nature-inspired flavour.
© Ravi Kanade
Built as the client Interaction zone for ‘Bonochhaya’, the experience centre for this development is designed to bring out all these aspects and more. It consists all essential functions of meeting spaces, presentation areas, discussion zones, set in the environment showcasing the local flavour as a unique selling feature of the project.
© Ravi Kanade
Nature, romanticised through the emphasis on sitting in the shade of trees, is an integral part of the design and is woven in through its conceptualisation. The glass waiting lounge overlooking the open-to-sky deck invites one from the street to taste the environment created through these green connections.
© Ravi Kanade
With temperatures soaring upto 45°C, it was imperative that the design keeps out the harsh summer sun. Double brick walls and Southward-tilted terracotta tile roofs were ideal passive cooling measures to employ as they also lent an earthy vibe. The sloping roofs were split into 3 different heights to work as an interesting way to bring greens in to the various volumes. The shaded northern green courtyard capitalised on existing trees and translated into the ‘Soul’ of Shantiniketan life.
© Ravi Kanade
Inspired by Tagore’s teachings, tribal art, intrinsic to Shantiniketan, was woven into the design and graphics. Brick walls and Terracotta Tiles complement the Steel Structure and Concrete floors to bring out the contemporary and forward-thinking nature of the true Tagore disciple.
© Ravi Kanade
Once the development is fully occupied, the experience centre is planned for re-use as a doctor’s clinic for the local community. The facility would include a day care ward, a small diagnostic centre and an out-patient department. This is something the developer had planned at the start of the project as a means to give back to the community. We managed to integrate the social aspect with their requirement of a space for marketing into a single structure, saving cost and time while adding sentimental and architectural value to both functions.
Sig Nordal 