The passion to pursue the seldom explored aspects of architecture and the built environment took Prem Chandavarkar, managing partner of Bengaluru-based CnT Architects, into several uncharted territories. Over the 55 years since its existence, the firm has marked its inventive trail with diverse spatial concepts and examined its projects as collaborations with clients to co-create architecture tailored to their aspirations. This invokes a contemporaneous yet responsible labyrinth of experiences. Chandavarkar gives us a peek into the premise that defines the principles of the practice’s work.
What goes on behind-the-scenes?
We deliberately eschew a common language that runs across all projects. A respect for every individual project requires us to treat it on its own terms and not subjugate it to a predetermined expression. To arrive at the final architectural expression, we draw from the needs of the project and the culture of its inhabitation, the topography and aura of the site, response to climate and the path/angle of the sun, surrounding context and the tectonics of the materials that make the building. All this needs to evolve in a spirit of co-creation with the client and other collaborators.
There are some common philosophical principles that apply to all projects. These are:
• The architecture and its spaces must be scaled so that the person inhabiting it is not only comfortable but is also given a sense of being and orientation.
• Meaning in architecture is not a product of the architect’s intentions or creativity. When a project is completed and handed over for inhabitation, the architect’s voice is forever silenced from that point onward and the building is left to speak for itself. Few architects come to terms with that. As architects, our task is to craft an aura that emanates from the building, the dialogue between this aura and the inhabitant must be an emancipatory experience such that it breeds memories over time that make the architecture meaningful. The test of good architecture is not about the visual impact it has on you but on its potential to be inhabited over the years.
We seek to construct our practice as a place that shelters rigorous reflection on the potential of architecture without dependence on one or two key personalities, and one that includes clients and other collaborators in this reflection. We are divided into six smaller teams, so there are multiple voices in the production of our designs. The dialogue and critique between the teams is a source of energy and authenticity in validating what we do. It is our aim to run the place such that its spirit abides by our motto, ‘Enrich Life through Architecture’.
What are the common challenges of designing commercial spaces?
Imparting character and spirit to the spaces, as there is a tendency, especially in real estate projects, to treat the interiors as a neutral entity that must be hidden behind a slick packaging. We must realise that every building is also a community of people. It is vital to understand the character of that community, the outsiders who intersect with it and, from there, explore how you can use this to impart energy and buzz to the architecture and interiors.
The client versus the Architect versus the city: Is there a conflict?
I believe it is all a product of the mindset with which you start. If you assume the client, architect, and city are all in conflict, you will only perceive the conflicts and get stuck within them. But if you start with the assumptions that good design is good business, that good design is not directly proportional to expenditure and that good design considers more than the limits of the immediate project, then you will start seeing the unity between the client, architect and city. Having said that, it is not an easy task. It requires rigorous thought, energetic exploration, idealistic commitment and the skills to communicate the idea.
How do you establish the synergy with the various stakeholders involved in a single project?
Architecture has always been a complex task involving collaboration with several stakeholders. Some of the roles have changed over the years: for example, project managers and facility managers have taken on an increasing significance in the process. This is again a mindset issue. You must start with the assumption that there is a unity of purpose among the stakeholders, remain committed to the quest for that unity and possess the capacity to communicate it.
The ability to communicate is key. Architects often blame their predicament on collaborators who do not understand the importance of what we do yet wield the power to obstruct us. This is an easy cop out and the real problem is often within us. Because the value of what we do is intangible and unquantifiable, we feel driven to seek validation beyond our own intuitive satisfaction. We tend to validate our work by assessing whether it wins design awards, merits publication in professional journal, attracts attention and respect in schools of architecture, or leads to invitations on the lecture circuit. These are valid goals to pursue but when they become dominant, they breed a self-referential culture as all of them are tied to judgment by peers. Architects wind up designing for other architects rather than the wider constituencies implicated in their projects. What is worse is that we lose the ability to talk about the value of architecture to those who are not architects and then we expect that this value will be accepted as a matter of faith. We need to expand our horizons as a profession and learn to meaningfully engage with everyone who intersects with our work.
How crucial is it to involve facility managers at the conceptual stage of design?
The profession of facility management is relatively new and is still evolving. Before it evolved as a profession, managing a facility was a reactive process of solving problems as and when they came up. The second stage sought greater systematisation and professionalisation, graduating to a proactive and preemptive role that anticipated problems and acted in advance. The third stage was strategic, where the connection between facility management and wider business objectives was understood but this has, so far, been a more quantitatively and rationally driven approach. The fourth stage of evolution is just beginning — it invokes the ability to look beyond the quantitative and understand how intangible qualitative aspects like culture are just as important as quantitative issues and often have a greater impact.
The evolution of co-working spaces, as a recent and new project typology, will play a major role in the evolution of this fourth stage. As architects, we must aspire for the evolution of facility management to this stage and do whatever we can to support it. Because once it happens, facility managers will become truly valued collaborators in the design process.
How important is digital technology in your architectural designs?
We are very keen on leveraging digital technology in our practice as it allows us to expand our potential. However, we must keep our balance in the process for there are possible pitfalls if you do not do it in a thoughtful manner.
Firstly, Digital production lends a provocative imagery to day-to-day working. It is easy to get seduced by that imagery and lose sight of what the reality of the final experience of the building will be. Therefore, we must always treat the computer image as a mere representation rather than a reality, and authenticate what we do through a rigorous internalised empathy rather than reliance on imagery.
Second, we must not lose the value of sketching by hand. Physical paper has a defined and anchored scale that is different from the continuous zoom-in and zoom-out of digital production; so an over-reliance on digital production tends to result in a loss of sensitivity to scale. In addition, sketching by hand invokes muscle memory that lends an intimacy and personalisation to design exploration, as opposed to the homogenisation of the computer that reduces every person’s line to the same expression. This intimacy is crucial in achieving empathy with the experience of architecture. Muscle memory can only be effectively evoked by the broad sweep of the sketching hand that physically touches the sketch. It cannot be achieved by the quick and small repetitive movements of digital production. As Juhani Pallasmaa pointed out: the continued explorations of the creative hand lead to a mastery, where the hand learns to think on its own.
What hinders the adoption of technologies like BIM in India?
We adopted BIM early on, and 10 years ago, won an international award from Autodesk for our implementation of Revit. But I must confess there is a lot more we can do with the technology. We have used it primarily to integrate the visualisation of the design with the design development and construction documentation process; and this has been immensely useful. We need to go further and use it for analysis on materials, cost and sustainability.
Eventually BIM should offer a seamless unity between preliminary design, scenario explorations, design development and detailing, collaboration between design consultants and clients, statutory approvals, construction, facility management, sales and marketing as well as all sectors involved in an architectural project. A major impediment to this happening in India is price.
Most producers of BIM products are international software conglomerates. They calculate value equations in dollars or euros and convert that almost literally into rupees, even though the value equation in India is significantly different. This limits the spread of such technology in India. Here, the adaptation of BIM to local building codes is extremely crucial in structural and MEP design.
What are the upcoming projects your firm is working on?
Our work covers a range of project types covering multi-family residential, industrial complexes, academic campuses, corporate architecture and interiors, institutional projects and hospitality. Some recent and unusual projects are:
• Science Gallery Bengaluru: a project that joins a family of galleries in Dublin, London, Venice, Melbourne and Detroit that host exhibitions and experiences that ignite creativity and discovery, where science and art collide.
• The IIT Alumni Centre Bengaluru for all the India-wife IIT graduates.
• A nanometrology laboratory for Central Manufacturing Technology Institute in Bengaluru, where measurements can be done at the nanoscale, requiring the main laboratory to be buried 10m below ground, so that vibrations can be eliminated and temperature can be controlled within a variation of 0.1 degrees Celsius.
• A science centre in Vijayapura.
• A planetarium in Dharwad.
• An urban design project to remake the streetscape of Visakhapatnam’s core.
Finally, I should mention that even through the economics of our practice is oriented to larger projects, we do the occasional private home. The emotional investment of the client in this project type is unparalleled, one must stay in touch with this, and we believe that architects who stop designing homes lose a certain sensitivity to people. We continue to design them even if it does not make economic sense because it keeps us grounded.
CASE STUDIES:
Academy of Excellence for Advancement of Manufacturing Technology, Bengaluru
‘Building in the nature and nature into the building’ — this was the underlying concept for this institutional project. Since the project site was a previously developed one, approximately 75% of the site area (excluding building footprint) was restored with native plantation. The basic elements were curated to control factors like heat, shade and glare.
The structure was constructed with 300mm thick brick walls with ¾ inch external plaster and air gaps to cut down the amount of heat coming into the building. By doing this, U-value of the wall achieved to 0.074, thereby reducing the energy consumption in each room.
The latest technology, with the least maintenance problems, has been integrated for services such as HVAC, water management, energy conservation, etc. The project also has incorporated strategies of rain-water harvesting. This has completely eliminated the use of potable water for landscape irrigation.
Client: Central Manufacturing Technology Institute
Site: 8.05 acres
Built-up area: 6,200sqm
Structure: Anagha Engineering Consultants
MEP: Mc D Built environment Research laboratory
Contractor: DEC Infrastructure
Dr Reddy’s Laboratories Corporate Office, Hyderabad
With an international clientele, the office was to project a global aura, while at the same time maintaining a local touch. This core idea was reflected at various levels in details throughout. Whether in the climate responsivity of the overall planning or the selection of materials, like the clay-tile external cladding, the building responds to the local context, while at the same time satisfying international standards. The building is LEED Gold rated. It is envisioned as a structure that is grounded by making it bottom heavy with a lighter top mass. Relief is provided by the voids that are sculpted within this mass at various levels. Three separate masses interweave around and over these central voids, resulting in a series of office spaces at various levels branching off a central social street.
Client: Dr Reddy’s Laboratories
Site: 1.8 acres
Built-up area: 13,900sqm
Structure: Sterling Engineering Consultancy Services
MEP: Spectral Services Consultants
Contractor: JMC Projects India
Mindtree East Campus, Bengaluru
The key proposition for the project was to recognise that organisations actually function as communities and the design of the office needed to reflect the complex scales and identities of these communities. Hence, it was important to break away from the typical office design that consists of uniform grids of desks and cubicles and where everyone’s identity is overwhelmed by a bland system. Every office floor of the new building is ringed by double-heighted breakout spaces, which serve as social magnets, building a sense of community in the workplace, providing relief to the pressures of work and offering vantage points to enjoy the views, particularly of the adjacent lake and greenery.
Client: MindTree Limited
Site: 5 acres
Built-up area: 31,500sqm
Structure: Anagha Engineering Consultants
MEP: AECOM India
Landscape: Oikos
Civil contractor: Cicon Engineers
Interior contractors: Om Sai Interiors, NDA Builtech, Cherry Hill Interiors, Kundur Construction
Otis Elevator Test Tower And Factory
The project involved the expansion of the existing administration block, production factory and the construction of a new lift testing facility. The Test Tower had been envisioned as a ‘living sculpture’ — an iconic structure with a distinctive profile. It accommodates a double-heighted display area, terrace lounge and functional elements like sound testing rooms into the massing scheme.
The expansion of the office blocks carried forward and evolved the existing building language — aesthetically and structurally. Central double-heighted space in the admin spaces and the landscape court at the reception add to the ‘community’ nature of the campus. Light-weight skylights allow the expansion to be structurally independent from the existing building yet unify the interior spaces and create varying volumes.
Client: Otis Elevator Company India
Site: 15 acres
Built-up area: 2,16,000sqft
Structure: Anagha Engineering Consultants
MEP: Design Ventures Structure & MEP Consultants
HVAC: U V Achar Consultants
Landscape: Oikos
Triveni Turbines Factory Campus, Bengaluru
The project took complete advantage of the site contours and its rich mangrove, to provide a rainwater harvesting pond at the end of the site and a research centre along the mangrove. The factory bay has been oriented to receive maximum north light and green buffers have been introduced between bays to ensure maximum light, ventilation; these are used as breakout spaces. We achieved 100% of water balance and every drop of rainwater falling on site is harvested and utilised efficiently. Sustainability features were given utmost priority and the project is LEED Gold rated.
Client: Triveni Turbine
Site area: 23 acres
Built-up area: 4,50,000sqft
Structure / MEP: DesignTree Service Consultants
Contractor: KNK Nexgen Constructions
Tata-Dhan Academy, Madurai
The design began with a study of the Chettinad style to understand its planning, scale, detailing and materiality. This learning was then reinterpreted to suit the spatial and functional needs of the school. The site layout picks up on the way villages are distributed across a region, with clusters from which interconnecting roads springs out. The individual cluster grow as radiating squares and interlocking courtyards, halls sided with verandahs that opens onto landscaped courtyards, maintaining transparency of every space.
Client: Tata-Dhan Foundation, Madurai
Site: 2,22,600sqm
Built-up area: 5,100 sq mt (phase 1)
Structural engineer: B L Manjunath & Co
MEP engineer: Semac
Civil contractor: TAPL, Nagercoi