REIMAGINING READING

In the time and age when everyone is turning to digital, Studio Hinge breathes new life into the library at the Cricket Club of India in Mumbai.

The Cricket Club of India is an exclusive members club from Bombay’s colonial past, with an understated Art Deco building from 1938 as its main pavilion overlooking a historic cricket stadium.

INFUSING NEW DESIGN IDEAS

When Studio Hinge was originally invited to design the library, it was at a different location within the club in a standalone building fronted by a storage yard. The earlier scheme featured a permeable façade of books in glass revolving doors, envisioning the yard converted to landscaped gardens with semi-covered reading areas. However, this design was never realised, and the library was relocated to the fourth floor of the administrative building. Despite this challenging location, the new design seeks to retain some of the original ideas.

The temporary library had no washroom facilities or separate admin area. It had long lightless corridors and bookshelves stacked high in front of windows, creating claustrophobic spaces with natural light blocked out. This, coupled with shrinking attention spans and the fact that people increasingly read on digital devices rather than books, meant that fewer people than ever visited the space. Those that did came to collect or return books and rarely stayed to read.

USHERING A NEWFOUND ENERGY