For designing their own studio, Manthan Architects and Interior Designers headed by Ar. Sachin K. Patil and Ar. Sheetal S. Patil.
This was a rented space, accessed straight from the road, originally a garage attached to the servant’s quarter and utility yard, has now been transformed into an unconventional architecture office. The architects conceived it as a multi-functional and semi enclosed area.
Kolhapur with a sub-tropical weather enjoys the best of all seasons so this space was to be made transitional. Dilapidated Asbestos sheet flat roof of the garage was replaced with a new colour coated aluminium pitched roof over MS box girders and finished with POP grooved white ceiling.
The roof was extended above the main door to form a small entrance court demarcating the entry by introducing low height walls. The compound wall on left was raised and fitted with tiny stone alcoves to put lamps. The courtyard thus formed was finished with fine aggregate to signify progression. The new plinth was introduced in the garage to serve as the main studio that extended to the garden. A built-in seating was dictated by a skew in the existing compound wall.
The wall separating garage, back yard and a side of the room was removed and a new L shaped studio was derived from the garage. Utility yard was then introduced with a shallow lily pond as the central element of the garden. The far southeast corner of the property became an outdoor dining area. The principal architect’s workstation connects to the entrance court visually through the clear glass openings and a partly louvered wooden door was repainted and reused with a small wooden railing. A tiny slit for the skylight along the south wall of the studio invites the sun and moonlight creating magical patterns on the rough sand plastered white wall. An old sliding door was reused across the garden area to provide an enclosure.
The floor was done in grey IPS finish. The outdoor dining area comprises of another recycled door on a minimalist M.S box section support, as table. Uprooted temple trees from a redevelopment site were replanted in the garden around the dining area, thus making the landscape, interior and architecture all merge to create a homogenous experience, where one is connected to the elements of nature as well as oneself.
