A Contemporary Touch - Deli at Taj Gateway

Added : 15 Nov 2010 | Visits : 2747 | Average votes : %

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10X10 Consultants' contemporary design of a cafe for an upmarket hotel chain in Kochi aims to target the youth.

'Contemporary and youthful', was the design brief given to 10X10 consultants for the Deli at Taj Gateway. The cafe is conceptualised as a 'transit' based on the fact that a cafe has a larger turnover and the staff deals with a larger number of people in a rather short time as compared to a restaurant. The 800sqft of space has been divided into a covered area of 600sqft housing seating and the service counter while the remaining area is designed like an outdoor deck with casual seating.

Rather than the regular painted interiors, this cafe has been designed with five basic element which have been inspired by the varied facets of the city. The shipping harbour located in the vicinity has inspired the rusty brown palette. However, red, the corporate color of the hotel has been incorporated on the primary board and furniture.

There are two types of lighting which set the mood of the place. The saucer lights designed out of saucers used for mixing cement and aggregate at the construction site add character to the ceiling. 361 light bulbs that glow with different intensities through volatage fluctuations make for yet another element. It is designed as a metaphor symbolising the era of incandescent lights and brings back memories of a different generation.

Mild steel plates, staggered over 7 levels with 7 shades of paint, placed over a wall is inspired by the night lightscape of Kochi. The plates are finished to get a similar texture and with a backlight, add to the ambience of the cafe. Christened 'Metropolis', the variance in colours of the paint makes this installation lively, even during the day time with the lights switched off. In yet another installation, Kochi - New York, the architect has acknowledged “New York” as the commercial capital of the world. An abstracted form represents the two cities with the grid layout of New York transforming to form the bread stand while the city of Kochi has been mapped and extruded to form the identity board.

10X10 Consultants have successfully integrated five seemingly diverse elements in the design of this modernistic and contemporary cafe.

Text Compilation: Hina Nitesh

Photographs: courtesy the architects