serie architects

The Tote Location: Mumbai, India

Client: Private client
Status: Completed, 2009
Cost: Undisclosed
Area: 2,500 sqm
Use: Commercial
Serie Architects
serie architects
Below: Structural detail of the roof canopy
serie architects
A series of disused buildings from
Mumbais colonial past set within the
Mumbai Race Course are to be converted
to form a series of restaurant and bars.
The conservation guidelines call for
the preservation of the roof prole for
three-quarters of the buildings and full
conservation for the remaining one-quarter.
The interesting aspect of the site, however,
lies not in the colonial buildings but in
the open spaces covered by mature
Rain Trees. These spaces are shaded
throughout the year by the thinly wide
spread leaves of the Rain Trees, allowing
almost the entire proposed program to
occur outdoors.
Our proposal follows this idea of a
continuously differentiated space, with no
clear boundary, into the envelope of the
conservation building. A new structure is
proposed within the old building envelope.
The structural system adopted here is that
of a tree-branch. The propagation of the
branching system along the longitudinal
section of the conserved building is
differentiated in its growth along the
transverse section. This differentiation
reorganizes the old buildings with new
dining programs. Therefore each dining
program (wine bar, restaurant, pre-function
and banquet facilities) is captured within
a different spatial volume, dened by
the variable degree of the branching
structure. As the structure branches into
ner structural members as it approaches
the ceiling. When the branches touch
the ceiling, the ceiling plane is punctured
with a series of openings corresponding
to the intersection of the branches with
the purlins and rafters. These openings
become light coves and slits.
The interior of the Lounge Bar on the
upper level is an intricate arrangement of
3-dimensional, faceted wooden panelling,
acoustically treated with sound proong
material. The pattern of the panelling is a
series of trees with intersecting branches.
We devised a 3 point co-ordinate system
to map out the pattern onto the walls of
the heritage wing, given the 3 dimensional
nature of the panelling and that each
intersecting point had a totally different x,y
and z co-ordinate. This system allowed
local craftsmen to achieve a high level
of t and nish with fairly primitive tools.
The faceted panelling is nished in walnut
veneer with bronze channels making up
the tree pattern.
Bottom: Structural system follows the logic of rain trees
on the site
Project Description
serie architects
Below: Cladding detail
Bottom: Tote bar lounge
serie architects
serie architects
Below: Tote Restaurant
Bottom: Banquet Hall