Automobile Design Studio

LOCAL INSPIRATION

The client wanted to create a cutting-edge design studio where the designers would style their latest vehicles, and which needs to have an emotive quality that could energise and inspire thoughts; while modern, it should also maintain a sense of its origins.

Nestled amongst similar contiguous sheds with lush greenery amidst a concrete jungle, the site for the studio is within Mahindra and Mahindra’s (M&M) 64-acre vehicle factory in Kandivali, which consists of five existing low-lying sheds. The place is reminiscent of Mumbai’s bygone decades and is perhaps the last of industrial campuses that occupied land on the highway of what was previously the outskirts of a fast-growing city.

The site is characterised as distinctly industrial with surrounding buildings that are rather older versions of prefabricated steel types—made with handheld tools using standard rolled steel sections that were fabricated, welded and bolted at site. The old buildings were identical for most parts but with the irregularities and imperfections that arise out of being handmade.

PROJECT DATA

Project Name	Automobile Design Studio
Location	Kandivali, Mumbai
Completion Date	January 2015
Site Area	29,500 square feet
Gross Floor Area	25,000 square feet
Building Height	10.72 metres (maximum height)
Clients/Owners	Mahindra & Mahindra Ltd.
Architecture Firm	SJK Architects
Principal Architect	Shimul Javeri Kadri
Main Contractor	Shen Chuan Renovation Works
Lighting Consultants	Lighting Ergonomics
Civil & Structural Consultant	Shilp Consulting Engineers
Images/Photos	Rajesh Vora; SJK Architects