Monday, March 27, 2017

IIA AWARDS 2016 FOREXCELLENCE IN ARCHITECTURE-COMMERCIAL CATEGORY

Greetings from our team at MURALI ARCHITECTS!

We are extremely honored to share with you that we have been awarded at National level for Excellence in Architecture under the Commercial Category for our completed project - "Highway Restaurant - Manoj Bhavan". We would like to thank the IIA for recognizing our work and also the whole team for their Co-ordination. 

























MURALI ARCHITECTS Design Team:
Seethapathy PB, Shirlo Selvam, Firdose Basha, Ukenderan Elan, Devi Ilamathy, Saran Mohan, Vishnu Ponnarasu, Mohan Moorthy, Harshitha Damodaran, Anaz Anz


Engineering and co-ordination Team:
F Swaminathan, Sadham Hussain, Illaya Bharathy, Seenivasan Durairaj, Muthu, Arumugam, Kuppan, Sivakumar

Contractor Team:
Ulogamoorthy and C Sekar

Monday, March 6, 2017

Indian Institute of Architects -IIA Awards

Greetings from our team at MURALI ARCHITECTS!

We are extremely happy and honored to share with you all, our 
projects have been shorlisted for Indian Institute of Architects 'IIA Awards for Excellence in Architecture 2016’.
Our projects that have been shortlisted are as follows:

  •  Manoj Bhavan- Commercial category
  • Hearing Aid Centre- Non-Residential Interior category




We look forward to the next stage of the Jury and thank IIA Tamilnadu for shorlisting us, which by itself is recognition for a designer. 
Congratulations to all the other excellent architects who have made the list!

IIA AWARDS 2016 SHORT LISTED ENTRY

MANOJ BHAVAN – HIGHWAY RESTAURANT

"They say life is a highway and we all travel our own roads, some good, some bad, yet each is a blessing of its own.”

One does not take a road trip without stopping at a Highway Restaurant. Any journey, be it an adventurous one or an arduous one, needs a break to refresh and relax. Such highway restaurants must be inviting to the travelers who wish to explore the journey more than the destination.

"Any clever devil would decorate the highway to hell as beautiful as possible."

The ManojBhavan - Highway Restaurant is positioned in Madhuranthagam, along the 100 feet wide Trichy – Chennai National Highway. The essence of the restaurant is to attract and arrest the attention of fast moving highway vehicles from a distance by the use of strong geometry and bold shapes and sharpness, a play of varying silhouette, material, texture, color and form.
The restaurant is an incorporation of massive structures with irregular angles that create three different faces to the on lookers. This way, the travelers are welcomed from all the directions.These three faces create a visual axis which is both inviting and appealing to the visitors.
Slanting walls along with the combination of irregular angles entice the on lookers and creates an interesting visual appeal.

"The best thing about concrete is that, it looks unfinished."

The exterior and the interiors are constructed with exposed concrete and plywood shuttering. The cantilevers are formed by steel truss framework and they are an interesting play in the structure which emphasizes the outlook of the building.
Usage of exposed concrete and the neutral colour scheme of various hues and tones of grey and white, creates a balance and uniformity that compliments the usage of the irregular angles.
The cantilevered Director’s room is designed in such a way that it overlooks the processing and the flow of activity of the restaurant. The glass frame with steel channels are held together by channel sections. Niches have been fashioned as seating along the interior exposed concrete walls. The janitor area in the washrooms has also been carved with niches.
The tower which holds the over head tank and its head room acts a focal point that is capable of attracting passengers in the surrounding 3km radius. The massiveness of the tower makes it as a prominent landmark of the restaurant and its verticality and vastness makes it easier for the visitors to spot it even from a distance.
The children play area along with the landscape provides a relaxing ambience for both the adults and kids. The pathways are defined through the means of landscape.
The highway restaurant acts as a retreat for all the travelers. Its serene location and ease of access makes it a pleasurable space for people to unwind and rejuvenate after a long tiring ride.
The comforting landscape and the sculpture-like mass will invite the tired traveler in, offer a pause period and a time of bonding, and rejuvenate their senses, before they restart their journey.
In conclusion, ManojBhavan, makes the journey of a traveler to a destination more delightful and enjoyable, because the journey to a destination is equally important as the destination itself.

“The road is a word, conceived elsewhere and laid across the country in the wound prepared for it: a word made concrete and thrust among us.”









IIA AWARDS SHORT LISTED ENTRY- HEARING AID CENTRE, Nungambakkam-REVISIT DIARIES By Nirmal Kumar, Trainee Architects, Murali Architects.

"Architecture can't force people to connect, it can only plan the crossing points, remove barriers, and make the meeting places useful and attractive." - Denise Scott Brown.

As part of our Revisit Series to one of our completed projects- HEARING AID CENTRE, a small group of us Intern Architects from Murali Architects had the opportunity to set out once again, from the southern end of Chennai towards one of the suburban areas at the heart of the city- Nungambakkam.
Our first stop was at the old building which the Hearing Aid Centre occupied previously, a non-descript rigid confined space with sterile interiors. From here, we went on to see the new Hearing Aid Centre, which was a refreshing contrast from the stereotypical ‘clinic’ feel of its predecessor.
As soon as we walked up to the large glass doors that swung forth on their own, we could see that the new HAC was a complete transformation from the previous one- where dynamism and openness replaced the rigidity, where there was freshness that was truly inspirational.
The Hearing Aid Center at Nungambakkam, Chennai is a 2000 Sq. ft. interior project, which not only serves for people with hearing disabilities, but also as a space where they could spend quality time with their family.
The curved forms are used efficiently with minimal wastage of space, with custom made furniture with cheerful colors that could reduce the anxiety one would otherwise experience in a clinic.
We were pleasantly surprised to find that the project area is just 2000 sq.ft,which is even more surprising since such a large extent of work has been accommodated into such a limited space. It was clear that one of the first priorities in the design conceptualisation was efficient use of this limited space and also, to bring about a comforting environment with these space constraints.
Fluid lines move effortlessly from one surface to another, from the reception desk to the false ceiling, blurring the lines between them. The public and private spaces are zoned very efficiently, with necessary comfort created for the treatment rooms.
The highlight of the design was the Simulation Room, where sounds from the bustling crowds at a Railway Station, the busy din of the marketplace and identifiable sounds from public spaces could be heard and tested.
Individual cabins are thoughtfully provided near this, to enable the families accompanying the patients at the HAC to sit together, discuss and arrive at the most suitable procedure, to enable the doctors at the HAC to provide their care efficiently.
As we visited during working hours, we were able to see and observe firsthand how the space is used by the common people, where everyone felt welcome, and their sense of ownership to the space was visible, by the way they did not hesitate to make themselves feel at home.
The real fluidity of the design of the HAC struck us when we saw it visibly adapt itself to accommodate the needs of not only the frail grandfather, with his walking stick, but when it could also create the ambience that would put at ease the young IT Professional granddaughter who had accompanied him.
Although many clinic and hospital interior projects tend to overlook the sensitive needs of the users, this lovely space empathises deeply with them.
While this aspect of empathetic design might seem like a small detail to the rest of the world, for those with hearing difficulties and the aging fighters with fading hearing, this space truly aims to provide for more than just a functional aspect, but also strives to create hope and purpose in their lives.
It retains its heart and soul right at the solution it hopes to provide- where people in their golden years can be given a new breath of hope, a new ray of light and an end to the lonely silence…and a rebirth of joyous melody in their lives.
And as the Master Architect once said,

“To Hear a Sound is to see a SPACE” – Louis Kahn.











WITH THANKS
To our clients, who allowed us great freedom of expression for a designer.
MURALI ARCHITECTS CREATIVE TEAM - HEARING AID CENTRE
Murali Murugan Seethapathi Pb Ar Sofiya Johnson Sadham Hussain Dilshath Aadhil Karthik

#indianarchitecture #hearing #hearingclinic #architecture #tamilnaduarchitects #chennai #nungambakkam #hac

CAF 10X10 - Chennai Architecture Foundation

Greetings from our team at MURALI ARCHITECTS!
Chennai Architecture Foundation (CAF) is an organization established to promote architecture, urbanism and education in the city of Chennai. It facilitates and promotes critical public engagement with built environment issues by organizing lectures, discussions and events. The CAF 10X10 is an event where a few eminent architects will present one project each with 10 slides to bring focus on the challenges and ideas behind the project.
Our Chief Ar.Murali Murugan was invited to present one of our best completed projects- ‘HIGHWAY RESTAURANT- MANOJ BHAVAN’,located off the Chennai- trichy highway at Madhurandhagam.
We are thankful to the Chennai Architecture Foundation  for inviting us, along with 6 inspiring architects to enlighten young minds with the elaborate process involved in design. We thank all the young aspiring architects who made it to the CAF 10X10 Talks at Spaces- Besant Nagar on 21st February 2017.
The material that we presented at the lecture is as follows.






The attentive crowd

Ar.Murali Murugan- left corner


We are thankful to 
Murali Architects Design Team:
Seethapathi Pb, Shirlo Selvam , Firdose Basha, Ukenderan Elan, Devi Ilamathy, Saran Mohan, Vishnu Ponnarasu, Mohan Moorthy, Harshitha Damodaran, Anas Anz.
Engineering and coordination team:
F Swaminathan, Sadham Hussain, Ilaya Bharathy, Seenivasan Durairaj, Muthu Arumugam, Kuppan , Siva Kumar.
Contractor team:
Ulogamoorthy Moorthy and C Sekar.