Chronicling avant garde design motifs

He is a firm believer in the design philosophy that architecture, at its visionary best, exhilarates and inspires and it is not the creation of non-living products made of merely brick and concrete. And rather, it is the art of creating for human beings so that they live in harmony with Mother Nature. For years, architect Abhigyan Neogi has been creating new trends in hospitality design. “With the premise that a good architectural design embodies imagination and ingenuity, the team at Chromed Design Studio (CDS), moves ahead, passionately bringing life to structures. The choice of offbeat colour tones, unorthodox material palette and quaint but meaningful design story become a cult on its own. The team combines sharp logical ability, business sense and client empathy to embody the wow spirit in all the designs,” shares Neogi who set up CDS in 2010 and has ever since been pioneering designs for HORECA industry, apart from residential and commercial projects. 

In fact, Neogi’s aesthetic sensibility has found way from Virat Kohli’s One8 Commune at Aerocity to multiplex chain Inox to Diona Jaipur. And then there are projects like Social Cyberhub in Gurugram and Kwality Restaurant in Connaught Place besides 400-plus more globally where he has transcended conventional barriers and proven his creative and innovative mettle. Neogi is the founder of a cloud kitchen infrastructure company, Cloud Infra, that enables restaurateurs to expand an existing restaurant or start a virtual brand at a minimal cost. He also spearheads Acaso Homes, a luxury residential villa development company in Goa. Keeping the passion for F&B close to his heart, his recent venture TKYO is Goa’s first Japanese resto-bar with an authentic Japanese bakery under Super Potato Hospitality which brings the much-needed global palette to Goa’s hospitality.

Changing concept of architectural design

“Travel has become accessible to all and people today are cognisant. They have realised the importance of being outdoors and curating life-enhancing experiences, initiating a boost in the footfall of tourists all over India. This has pushed hoteliers and restauranteurs to come to par with global trends and levels expected of the Indian market. From global cuisine and local food to fine dining and casual hangout places, this new generation of post-pandemic era entrepreneurs, chefs, restaurateurs, bloggers and food enthusiasts are rendering travel and food experience in India with aesthetics and experimentation,” shares Neogi, adding as a result, the incorporation of various universal design concepts and amenities and introduction of strategies that will accommodate people from all over the globe will make them feel the Indian-ness while they stay in this context. “Architects and designers have to now focus on the story, the identity and the content, getting the best of both worlds, spatially, exposing their guests to an optimal stay experience,” he says.

Talking about one of his most challenging hospitality projects, the founder of Chromed Design Studio says, “We completed a project called Diona in Jaipur recently. It is a space dripping with grandeur and glitz, adding to Pink City’s old-world charm and featuring a number of indoor and outdoor venues on the rooftop of a 14-floor hotel. The challenge we came face-to-face with was to repurpose the existing shaft by converting them into stand-alone pillars by tweaking its architectural language with monochromatic stone and marble. In another project, Glo - an exclusive high-spirited resto-bar in the heart of Dubai, the prominent features are radiant arches and glowing globes that light up the entire outdoor space and the surrounding water body. This project was a race against time which was the primary obstacle we had to tackle. Within a 90-day framework, we stood victorious by not only meeting the timeline but also creating an elegant affair with the smart play of light, material, and textures.”

Translating ideas into functional designs

Chromed Design Studio, avers Neogi, is a design consultancy firm which caters towards various typologies of projects ranging from hospitality to retail, residential, institutional and commercial. “The aim is to develop new ideas and design strategies for the diversity of projects. Each project evolves throughout the design process and reaches the level where it can ultimately justify the prominence of the brand the firm is working for. The real catch is weaving a story around the clients’ personalities and their requirements to craft a space tailor-fit for them. Translating our sensory experiences into designs is where the taste develops and the magic begins,” he says.

Latest trends in hospitality design

Interiors: Minimalism and neutral tones with sprinkles of vegetation in interior spaces. Inclusion of designer and state-of-the-art lighting fixtures has become a part of the space. 

Guestrooms: With work-from-home lifestyle gaining traction, guestrooms are designed to impart a homely environment with a dedicated and ergonomic work desk and high-tech wi-fi connection.

Lobby: These act as interactive social nodes for people to network and form connections. Lobby spaces are being merged with activities to make them livelier and busy.

Banquet: Spaces In a post-pandemic era, public gatherings and functions are being vitally scrutinised for aerating ease, safety and comfort. 

Sustainable measures

“From active systems to passive design methodologies, sustainability is incorporated into our projects in a myriad of ways. Infusing fenestrations based on wind flow and sun path results in efficient ventilation and promotes fruitful inflow of sunlight into the spaces, reducing the net carbon footprint. Providing open spaces and using locally sourced building materials contributes to the contextual quality, makes it pocket-friendly and easy to maintain. We use multiple sustainable materials we source locally,” informs Neogi. CDS tries to recycle, reuse and repurpose discarded materials to make art or put it to use aesthetically by treating them. “We use eco-friendly materials such as engineered wood and even bamboo to minimise our carbon footprint,” he adds.