Studio Lotus

Sirpur House evolved as a design where the client elaborated upon the project requirements simultaneously with the architect as well as the interior design team at Studio Lotus. The brief stated the need for a number of cabins, meetings rooms and a sprawling open workspace residing within a flexible system.

The interiors of this space drew direct inspiration from the exterior facade of Corten steel, brick and concrete that enveloped the building of the corporate headquarters of the paper mill, the Sirpur House. The previously constructed two separate wings of the building were now linked together with metal bridges.

The internal construct was shaped as a neutral yet malleable canvas to the many functions and stunning art works it houses. The atrium that spills through the entire side of a wing implies the influence of the “paper story” in its concept with paper rolls acting as the inspiration for the furniture that were crafted out of sandwiched plywood sheets to unfold as origami-like sculpted forms of sweeping planes of paper. The flooring of all the areas have been treated as vacuum dewatered floors to enhance their natural finish. A screen cascades down from the ceiling to the floor and cordons off the service block while aligning itself to the AC louvers.

The cafe, which opens out from the reception and into the court, houses a trellis that is replicated on the diagonal skeleton of the building. Mirror and clear glass sandwiched with film have been used for the table tops. The Galleries have been configured in such a way so as to allow flexibility and adaptability in accordance with the changing shows. The emerging result highlights the effortless intermingling between the external and internal spaces of a structural system.