Ritualistic Refurbishing Of A Lavish Hotel

AR Hiral Jobalia is the Principal Architect of Hiral Jobalia Studio (HJS), Mumbai. It is a boutique-sized firm having broad and varied experience in modern home interiors, private residential homes & commercial projects across India which articulates into catering to a mixed set of clients. HJS Studio follows a step program, which starts with the client’s brief, innovation in both design and exploration of materials, constructability & budgets are carefully resolved and refined in a poetic solution that seeks to engage human perception. This results in sensually sculpted designs that speak of intimacy and identity – both at once.

The project for Hotel Levana Suites involved refurbishing an existing building and transforming it into a stylish boutique hotel on Lucknow’s Madan Mohan Malviya Marg. The team looked towards the city’s celebrated and delicate chikankari embroidery to create a beautiful and contemporary jaali. Customised in local stone, the thickness of the stone was altered to create interesting self design and perforations. The upper and the larger part of the façade was sheathed in bands of louvered brise-soleil, each one divided into three equal parts that can be each oriented differently to caste self-shadows and make the building feel like an origami creation.