A tranquil retreat from city life
“The holistic design brief for a versatile and flexible intervention”.
Located in the plush suburbs of Gurugram in the NCR, Elevate is a co-venture housing project marking the collaboration of Hines and Conscient, two major league developers in the Indian real estate sector. Spread across about 10,000 sq. ft., the design scope comprised architecture, interiors, landscaping, and FFE, skillfully realised by Studio IAAD.
The holistic design brief allowed for a versatile and flexible intervention; the idea was to ‘elevate’ the person entering the condominiums from the chaos of the noisy world’s frantic pace to a quieter, peaceful space where they can relax and take a breath of fresh air. The biophilic approach, a signature of Studio IAAD’s brand, nurture the user’s intimate connection with nature without foregoing modern comforts while employing greenery as a buffer to mute the clangour of the cosmopolitan city, enabling well-being.
Nestled in a forest-like setting, the approach to the house evokes tranquilly. The visitor is greeted with a narrow pathway on entry, wrapped in an enclosing thicket of overarching trees. It trails up to a circular courtyard with a sculpture at its nucleus embodying grace, harmony, and serenity. This courtyard connects to the building through a dynamic walkway with abundant tropical trees and blossoming petunia flower beds on either side, activating the pedestrian experience and crafting a blissful forest-like environment. Encompassed within green canopies, the building emerges from the verdant landscape like the surrounding trees.
Steeped in a contemporary theme, the design also nods to rustic simplicity and examples of European aesthetics in the interiors. The structure metaphorically manifests itself as a glass box at ground level, wrapped in transparent ribbons of glazing and holding up the levitating opaque mass that houses the private enclosed spaces on top. The expansive glass walls offer unhindered views of the scenic splendour around them, enriching the visual experience.
Within the main dwelling, the ground floor accommodates the experience centre, a lounge, a café, and the audio-visual room, leading up to the show apartment, kids’ room, lounge, and meeting rooms at the top level. The seating spaces of the reception, outdoor deck, café, and lounge are stitched together around the central courtyard in an unceasing dialogue with each other and the infinite open sky. The spaces flow into one another and unfold as one moves along, enabling a gradual unwinding of the sensory experience instead of making a colossal impact instantly. The staircase uses opulent chandeliers to usher the visitors from the lifts towards the stairs to make the ascent a part of the enchanting experience.
Many accessories, including lighting fixtures and furniture, have been reused from a previous project, facilitating a sustainable approach to waste management. The sculptures will also become part of the landscape of the housing project. Concentric cut-outs in the ceiling are designed to achieve a minimal yet elegant look, integrating HVAC and lighting services into one. The structure is designed with metal, glass, and wood as principal materials for quick construction, deconstruction, and reuse.
The design corroborates a dialogue between the experience centre and the show apartments through a similar theme and vocabulary. Envisioned as a boutique hotel, the building opposes the prevailing treatment of experience centres as an afterthought to housing developments. The ethereal slow-burn experience compels the visitor to sit and ponder, escaping in the forest’s therapeutic solitude away from the outer world, becoming a placid haven that people want to connect to, engage with, and inhabit.
For more info visit : https://iaad.in/
