The Lilypad Tables

Since its inception, Studio Pomegranate has been consciously working on a wide range of design solutions. Our projects have ranged from urban renewal, architecture, interior design, and furniture specific to our projects. For years we have talked about designing standalone products free of any project as a backdrop. However, given the range and nature of the work we engage in, we were never able to do it. 

Studio Pomegranate

All our projects have a simple set of operating principles – Does it work? Are we changing the world? Is it beautiful? There are some more under these heads, for example- doing something new, that was never done before is changing the world; but these are all that we need to know for now.

Context, and use has been a strong base for our projects, as it should be. Where we would weigh all the aspects of a given site- to understand space, aspiration, light, material, cost, finishes, etc. Then present a comprehensive design strategy for the design. The brain processes information in ways that set themselves up as we practice a certain methodology. We were quite steeped in the context-use methodology, it was our mode of operation for everything done at the studio.

At the end of October 2018, we met with Henry Skupniewicz, co-head of Godrej Design Lab who wanted to know if we would be interested in a fellowship. We met the team at GDL- Suruchi, Hriday, and Neeta who walked us through some of the work done by GDL in the past, as well as the Godrej Factory in Vikhroli. We were told that us being the first fellows- there wasn’t a set framework, nor what could or could not be done. We would however be able to work with the resources of Godrej Design Lab, and possibly even the parent company- Godrej and Boyce. (This is the clincher!)

From left to right- Neeta, Pranav, Suruchi, Shweta, Henry

Given our nature of jumping into things we haven’t quite understood yet- we accepted!

The first idea we worked on was a series of rooms with either one wall or two walls removed. A stackable, modular dollhouse made of concrete. We aren’t talking about the barbie doll aesthetic, but something modern, with opportunities to design all of the space yourself. It would be so cool! We could make all the furniture inside, bathrooms, and courtyards, like a micro-architecture project. Which was why it was such a BAD IDEA. It was a product that was creating its own context and use; We weren’t going to learn anything out of this product, and only propagate what we already do well. It was time to rethink all of this. 

One of the pieces of furniture inside this dollhouse was a very thin metal table, it was a single piece, with three thin legs. We called it the Lilypad. This became our starting point for a human-sized piece of furniture that could be placed indoors, or out; you can lift it with one hand, so as to be able to carry the table, a chair, and a book to another place. It needed to be bold, given its dainty construction. What if we could pack it in a small box? so placing it in shelves for transport, and sale is easy.

Building this started with some pieces of laser-cut aluminium, folding them, and putting them together with some nuts and bolts. It didn’t work. Stainless steel was too heavy, and didn’t work. It was a bit too wobbly, and wouldn’t take simple loads.

folding

Henry Testing the stability of the first piece

We then went back and looked at adding some folds to the metal to stiffen it, there was no way we could afford to increase the weight. A few more iterations later, we had two legs for each leg assembly, a stiffening piece above, and a tie in between to hold the structural frame together. Quite the journey!

The Godrej Factory

One of the final Pieces

Finishes were great fun, wanting to avoid the commonplace ones, we went once again to the Godrej Factory, and they helped us out with some top secret finishes that now adorn our first prototypes. There are now four different sizes with two table top configurations of three or nine segments. There’s always three legs, made of two legs in each assembly. The weight is between 1.3kg and 1.8kg. 

We are elated to have been able to achieve this, it is our first foray into standalone product design, and Godrej Design Lab has been instrumental in pushing us to work on this. It was a great learning experience, and we are certain we have made many new connections in our synapses. This also shows that as designers, we must be aware of our shortcomings, to learn new skills, and be able to stay creative, and relevant in the future. 

We are now working on other products, on our own, as well as with Material Immaterial who have been making beautiful concrete products. We hope to add more products to our list of projects, and be a part of the product design community. 

 

Images by Jimmy Shroff

The Ladies Common room at Seth G.S. Medical College, Mumbai

 

A hospital that serves one of the densest cities in the world, and a school that trains doctors. This room is heavily used, and one that will take be continuously use for decades to come. Studio pomegranate, along with Studio Mumbai set out to design this space keeping in mind everything we could learn from the larger hospital, and make it much better. Funded by the Indira Foundation, the process started in 2016 with a conversation with Studio Mumbai, who were then working on the space.

The Seth Gordhandas Sunderdas Medical College (GSMC), attached to the King Edward Memorial Hospital at Parel, in Mumbai is the foremost centre for medicine, and medical education in the country. Designed by George Wittet, and completed in 1926, the institution has produced some of the best and brightest doctors in the world. GSMC was the first medical school in India, and was the incubation ground for many firsts of medical innovation worldwide. The planning included beautiful airy lecture rooms sitting atop each other fixed like a jigsaw puzzle, open courtyards, modern laboratories, and a full array of sports and leisure spaces. The most frequented of these are the Girls (Ladies), and Boys common rooms. These rooms are designed for students to take time off, rest, and eat lunch. The architects were tasked with renovating the Ladies Common Room with a simple brief- to upgrade facilities, and ensure a relatively maintenance free space.

The room is made of four volumes- (1) the main space, 30’x40′ (2) Verandah 20’x10′ (3) Attached Toilet 10’x10′ (4) Main toilet14’x10′-6″. All spaces are 16′ tall. A 9′ wide hallway separates spaces 1,2&3 from 4. The outer windows were made in cast iron, with cast patterned glass, each window had a pivoted ventilator on top, a fixed glass, and two windows at sill level. Doors are of teakwood, and have a beautiful moulding running in the panels. The floor was Kotah stone, and walls- originally lime plastered, were now oil painted. Several teakwood, and steel lockers were haphazardly spread out in the space. The attached toilet had been removed, and a washbasin was installed, the larger main toilet was “upgraded” in the 2000’s and was in poor condition.

Studio pomegranate started measuring the space in May 2016, and very quickly was drawn to the immense beauty of the proportions and details; so much that over two weeks every moulding, detail, and screw were documented. The occupants of the space were also interviewed over the next six months, and time-lapse photography was used to understand usage patterns.

Discussions with Bijoy Jain, at Studio Mumbai then started, the consensus between both was that a mezzanine that would add about 50% of the main space would be useful to either move all the lockers into, or to provide various spaces for the girls. Studio pomegranate set out to work on several iterations of mezzanine, and locker arrangements. The simplest was finally chosen, with a rectangular mezzanine at the start of the main space, with only a few lockers placed above. The stair would be a straight flight up from the left side as you enter. It however was never finalised, and remained a contentious issue between the studios for the remainder of the project. A spiral stair came in later in the central zone, with a dainty handrail. It was decided that the space would be kept congruous with the larger campus, and hospital, and studio pomegranate spent considerable effort in reading, and documenting the buildings around the school. Details that were missing in doors were repeated from doors in the anatomy section, stairs from the library were used as prototype for the stair in the mezzanine, and sleek surgery cabinets were used to produce details for carpentry. The toilets were demolished, and  curved tiles, produced in Portugal were used for the toilets. Every detail, and every mould is from the original palette at the hospital, only put together to make better use of the detail.

The space was reopened for the students on June 22, 2018. The girls have loved their new common room, which gives them more space, efficient locker arrangements, and better facilities. The renovation was funded by Avinash Manudhane, and Dr. Sindhu Manudhane of the Indira foundation, and built by SPE build, the design-build arm of Studio pomegranate. The design team is immensely grateful for the special efforts put in by Dr. Lopa Mehta, Dean- Dr. Avinash Supe, Dr. Anita Agarwal, the Diamond Jubilee Society Trust, and all the wonderful students of G.S Medical college who faced tremendous hardship without this room, and being undestanding of the design process that Studio Mumbai, and Studio pomegranate follow. This relationship has led to an amazing space that can be fully utilised by generations of students to come.

Studio Mumbai: Bijoy Jain, Mimo Shirazi, Alba Abiad, Vatsal Bharmani, Kashyap Bhagat.

 Studio Pomegranate: Pranav Naik, Shweta Shah, Neel Davda, Anvita Balakka,

Other design collaborators: Rameshwar Bhadhwa, Pokaram Jasol, Aslam, Dr. Lopa Mehta

Engineer: Nitin Doshi, Dwijen Bhatt, Gautam Chande

Metal Fabricators: Shayona Drilling Engineering, Patel, Bharat Panchal

Carpenter: Pokar Ram Jasol

Civil Works: Mortar Constructions

Tiles:  TopCer

Electrical contractor: KK Interior

Paint: Rajender Nirankari

Steel lockers: Panchal

Time: Design – 25 Months, Construction- 8 months

Ritu Kumar store, Juhu

Facing the Juhu Tara road, and a step away from the beach. The new store for Ritu Kumar was made to bring the outside in; Disconnect the viewer from the bustle outside, with a garden entrance that pulls in the visitor, while showcasing garments, and accessories inside the store.

 

 

Once inside, the 800 Sq.ft space has been divided into loosely-bound rooms, that open into a common verandah, the viewer can be lost in this loop that swings around the garments, the outside and the changing room mass. As every store the studio has designed for Ritu Kumar, here also, the garments are given first priority, and every detail is for the display. The store is conceived as an open space utilizing a neutral palette of white and shades of pale green and grey, all serving to foreground Kumar’s colorful garments. The interior space consists of polished seamless natural Kota stone. This stone was brought in a large 4′ square format, special care was taken at the quarry to ensure minimal color variation so as to have a monolithic appearance. All edges are rounded and polished. The walls are rounded at the edges, alluding to the ageless beauty of 1920s Bombay; they don a neutral textured finish. The ceiling is black, and holds a fastening mechanism for brass rods that the garments are hung on. The massing is dominated with the presence of a changing room block reducing the entrance zone into a smaller foyer. To the left is the billing desk, and the right is a loop of clothes on racks. The changing room is a plush, fabric-lined room with replica chintz. The billing desk is set in between two equal masses of the toilet, and store room. A single globe lights up the space, the desk is flanked by two marble doors that let light through.

The studio appreciates the effort and energy put into this collaboration by the Ritu Kumar team who were supportive of our design strategy, and showed great faith in our skill as fellow designers and architects.

Project team: Shweta Chhatpar Shah, Pranav Naik, Rasika Rajagopalan, Neel Davda, Yashasvi Adamane, Ashraf Khan

 

Steel Trader’s Office, Mumbai

Studio pomegranate had, in 2016, spent days visiting and studying the markets of Bombay. Kalbadevi, CP tank, Zaveri Bazaar etc. The city has pockets of this central area earmarked to either particular trades, or with shops selling a particular commodity. One could find a building with a shop on the ground floor, and the owner and employees living above it. Conquest Steel and Alloys is one such business, dealing in ferrous and non-ferrous metals. They are a Marwari family that has dealt in the same material for three generations. They now trade steel across the world, and live in the high rise above this first floor office space.

Traditional metal trade uses rods and pipes; stacked on a metal rack. The owners of these establishments would set up a chair, and weighing scale for themselves in the racks. Walls are left bare, ceilings untreated. The focus is on the material to be sold. The only exception to this would be any kind of addition for comfort, a pillow, or a board to lean up against; coloured in a bright colour.

 

The space is 800 sq.ft, with a full size window at the North-West, walls on all the other sides, and a large column in the centre holding up an even larger looking beam. The first move was to focus on the material at hand- Steel; bend, cut, shear, pull, stretch, rust, patinate, paint, hold, use as a holder, and any other use we could find of it. The walls remain bare; made with white lime plaster, and a thin marble powder. The ceiling is untreated. Any additions are in colour, with a specific property attributable to each. The studio has experimented with the effects of chemicals on steel to bring about colour patination, Ferric Nitrate- Yellow; Allowing rust on weathering steel patinates to a beautiful Rust; Extreme heat and oxygen gives you a brilliant blue. These experiments come in as colour on the partition walls introduced in the space. The rest of the walls are white. The floor is cast without seams or joints, and curves up to the walls. This prevents furniture from brushing up against them. The ceiling is left exposed, and only past the beam is a false ceiling to hold lights. Tables are made with solid timber, without treating the edges, and leaving them as cut out of the tree. Cabinet doors are plain plywood. Studio pomegranate designed the luminaires and switchboards using weathering steel . Transparent partitions are made with the proportions of the trader’s racks. A sun shade is made with expanded steel mesh outside the window, and hangs off the custom steel brackets for the chajja. Art is added in in the form of photographs shot by Pranav while working with the client on other projects. The sculpture in the office also shows off the versatility of steel by bending, and folding an expanded mesh to cast shadows on the wall.

Project team:

Pranav Naik, Shweta Chhatpar, Palak Babel, Nasir Baig, Nisar, Imran, Bharat Panchal.