Cube on Cube

The exposed brick facade of the building runs evenly throughout the length fabricating a "Jaali look" composed Purely or raw bricks Placed strategically.  Brick is an incredibly versatile material, as evidenced in the use of a combination or full bricks and brick tiles in this project to create a screen That Allows the building to be shaded from the western sun. The resultant device play of light and shadow, solid and void changes during the course of the day.

Go down memory Lane !

The swirling staircase with a balustrade or luminescent gold adorns the building lovingly with its perfect curves. The perfection of its structure takes one back to times, When sliding down the smooth surface of the banister was a moment of glee and exhilaration. The stairs themelves draw one into a fantasy or gliding down them to make an entrance worthy of royalty. The combination of the masculine and the walnut quintessentially vibrant gold color palette complement eachother flawlessly and gives it a sense of solidity and strength.The circular structure takes one back to times, When sliding down the smooth surface of the banister was a moment of glee and exhilaration. 

Between the Lines - through Design !!

The traditional Jaali is an integral part of Indian architecture, used to screen the harsh summer sun, while allowing for air ventilation. The interstitial spaces created between the Jaali and the weather barrier provide another layer of thermal insulation, essential for the local climate. A modern interpretation of this element has been used in  this project in the form of a horizontal aluminum screen.Taking forward the archaic concept of screening the beauty,this screen acts as a aperture between the exterior and interior.

Amit Khanna is featured on Global Linker

The full interview transcript and video is available here and will soon be added to the blog.

And we're back!!

After a long hiatus, we are back in action on the blog. 

We have spent a lot of time building our new website, populating it with new and upcoming projects. We have said good bye to some familiar faces and welcomed new ones into the office. 

To give you a teaser of the things to come, here are just a few of the new projects on the boards.

Check back on us soon.
Team AKDA

Infres Methodex Office

InfresMethodex is an organization specializing in niche office automation products like shredders and currency counting machines. They needed to comfortably accommodate their current team in a new location while providing sufficient scope for future expansion. The only brief from our clients was to create an office space that would foster the values of the organization – quality and efficiency.The site was in a generic office building located on the main highway to Agra, just beyond the city limits of Delhi. A peculiar characteristic of the space was the presence of a large atrium that virtually divided the space into three distinct zones.

The challenge was to create a unified office atmosphere while dividing the space programmatically into the three zones. The first part of the office was laid out for the reception area and the marketing team since they would have the most interactions with visitors. The accounts and technical section were positioned on the other side of the atrium while the main management area acted as the bridge between the two and enjoyed the best views out towards the highway. Services were consolidated and pushed to the lightless areas of the building footprint, where they could be easily ventilated into the building air conditioning system.

As a planning strategy, it was decided that enclosed cabins would face the atrium and the open plan workstations would face the curtain wall at the periphery, thereby allowing a better overall distribution of light in the space. The movement corridor divides the two spaces, allowing for a sense of privacy while still providing opportunities for mentoring. Even the walls between the cabins stop short of the glass doors of the corridor, enabling wider views from within and better transparency while walking. A sophisticated energy saving air conditioning system that allows for efficient zone-wise cooling was adopted to ensure to differentiate between occupied and unoccupied areas. Adopted from the hospitality industry is an idea to combine and divide meeting rooms by silent top hung acoustical panels. These can be stored away when a larger training session is required and pulled out for smaller discussions.

A light oak colour is used to offset the crisp white surfaces in the open plan areas and a darker, more mature oak is used in the cabins of the senior management and the board room. The reception area features a continuous ribbon of panelling that envelops the entire space while illuminated by an architectural fabric ceiling. A raised seating area is enclosed by a series of wooden beams that provide a fleeting glimpse of the interior from the entrance, carrying forward the overall theme of transparency and lightness.

Location

Faridabad,

Haryana

Client   

InfresMethodex

Typology

Commercial

Climate

Composite

Built-Up Area                

12000 Sq.Ft.

Completion

2014