Belgadia Palace – Recreating the Royal Appeal
Spaces and Design have paid special attention to the styling of this heritage palace in such a thoughtful manner that each element gives a glimpse of the past glory of this iconic property.
The present-day royal families are coming forward and transforming their ancestral homes into hotels and vacation houses, so that the common man can have a taste of luxury and royalty. One such royal family of The Bhanjdeo Family of Baripada, Mayurbhanj, Odisha, have come forth and decided to open up their family home for the common man as a hotel. The Belgadia Palace, Baripada is a restoration project that spreads across 23,500sft and over two floors, ground and first. The Restoration, MEP, landscaping and interiors was done by Spaces and Design, Kolkata. The contactors were KNB Associates, Kolkata and the exquisite furnishing was by Skipper, Kolkata. The restoration was completed in a years’ time.
The now boutique hotel drips of so much history that a complete tear-down and build-up would have disrupted the natural flow and story of the palace. The extravagantly decorated palace of the Maharaja of Mayurbhanj is a heritage building depicting the rarest engineering skill and architectural excellence of a bygone era.
The palace is located on the border of West Bengal and Odisha about 3.5 hours from Kolkata and similar from Bhubneshwar. The palace is built on a hill and surrounded by orchards and groves and in close proximity to the Simlipal Tiger and Elephant Reserve. The open space spread gives the palace a prominent light up, the white exterior gives a very fresh and minimalistic look amongst the mighty green. The walls were renovated by understanding the old paint colors and recreating the effect and with sustainable paint and is adorned with terracotta flowers and nature imagery which was brought out by carving out the original designs from the walls and painting them a different color to highlight the craftsmanship. The engraved teak entrances to place on main archways and fixed leakages from old columns both inside and outside the house and old teak wood panels were re-used as flooring and decoration pieces so as not to use any new modern architecture unnecessarily. Ceilings and reinforcement of the very structure of the building, replacing the old wiring and pipelines with modern facilities but in keeping with the original architecture and furniture of the palace stood critical.
The shell of the house is kept intact, but the original 25 rooms were torn down and redesigned into the space to accommodate luxury suites, conference spaces, an extended library, billiards and theatre room, extended dining table, rooftop for performances, gym, spa, museum with a few additional verandas, for a multifaceted curated experiential heritage stay.
All the art deco, stained glass, chandeliers have been repaired and polished to be placed strategically to give the essence of living in the turn of the century as walking through the halls gives you a sense of the different periods the house has been through beginning with the 1800s. Century-old carpets and animal taxidermy were cleaned and repaired to be mounted on walls and used in the museum, while the gargoyles and window frames were repainted and fitted to mellow down the tone of the Victorian architecture with the remodeled 1920 French designs. all covered Arches were brought back to their original forms and positions to add to the original grandeur.
All the furniture from Europe and east Asia were upholstered and fabric used as parts of the royal palace and from the palace in Kolkata and Shillong. The original furniture was reused by revamping and re-polishing to bring back its glory. The color schemes of the whole hotel tell a bright story: five rooms on the ground floor and four uniquely designed bedrooms on the first floor were carved out from the original structure. The upper rooms have been named differently and after the royalty of Nepal as the Queen hails from there as well as most of the furniture: The Narayanhity Suite, the Shahzada Suite, The Bengal Renaissance Suite and The Crown Suite. Rooms on each level have a magical touch to them with the natural lighting and the restored chandeliers, now rightfully capturing the regal feel and glory of days of the past. Then bathrooms have clawfoot bathtubs that are restored and painted to be fit in the bathtubs including antique lamps, lanterns and Italian marble for flooring in almost every room. Royal Doulton sinks and taps have been replaced by modern showers, and the old Lalique lights and crystal chandeliers have been replaced by energy-efficient fittings. Efforts are to keep it as an environmentally sensitive building as much as possible by installing energy-efficient light fixtures.
The whole project is a vision entirely of the architectural teams. The prestigious clients were kind enough not to give a brief except utilization of all their antiques. The architects carved out their own brief in the first site visit and set it within the structural limitations of the huge property. The seed idea was to bring back the glory of the original structure but with all modern amenities and services. The freedom of choice given to the architects is clearly shown in the beautified version of the once glorified palace. This restoration is a very planned and mapped attempt that is successful as the original essence is still carried forward with the extra touches of modernity.
The Belgadia palace is so much more than just a boutique hotel, it’s a rented out home that reek of history and stories. This is the ultimate destination to fulfil your royal dreams.
