Cafe (16)

Architect: Romi Khosla Studio

Location: n India, New Delhi

Chief architect: Martand Khosla, Romi Khosla

Design team: Praveen Rajput, Maulik Bansal

Project area: 890 square meters

Project age: 2005-2010

Photography: Courtesy of Romi Khosla Design Studios

Design concept

This is a canteen on a university campus, a nearby auditorium, a cultural center and a mass communication center, which will become the hub of social activities throughout the campus.

The climate in New Delhi is extreme, with summer temperatures above 45 degrees Celsius and winter temperatures often below 5 degrees Celsius.

Most student canteens in India are not air-conditioned and are often poorly ventilated, hot in summer and cold in winter.

The canteen is in the form of a semi-open-air coffee shop. There is good ventilation to adapt to most ambient temperatures of the year, as well as from a variety of climatic conditions.

It is a truly unique contemporary design and heralds a new era of university architecture.

Mass

There is a completely enclosed kitchen block on the east side of the building. The building expands to the west, and the canteen is surrounded by two walls and roofs. Gradually, there is only the floor instead of walls and roofs, and the transition to outdoor space.

From indoor to outdoor, the surfaces of tables and seats change continuously, in line with changes in walls and ceilings.

The design attempts to blur the boundaries between the inside and the outside, a treatment that adapts to the climatic conditions of New Delhi.

All building components are clearly defined and independent of each other. The walls, floors and roofs do not touch each other.