Scope: Interiors

Area: 8,000 sq. ft

Puma Social Club was conceptualized as a sustainable and green space for what PUMA terms as ‘the after hours player’. The requirement was to have a social space that would bring people from different fields together.

The existing space had a fair amount of greenery in the surrounding areas juxtaposed with not so nice looking surroundings. The thought of having the two green walls which are the main feature walls in the space came as a result of wanting to block out the messy parts of the cityscape and wanting to make the green seem continuous.

The design inspiration came from imagining a space that had a generic appeal, green, very low on the carbon footprint and needed minimal machine manufacturing and maximum manual manufacturing of most of the components within the space. The concept was to relook at what is considered ‘waste’ by recreating and reimagining new possibilities.

The space was treated with previously junked materials that were found in shops selling scraps. There is a wall formed out of old ‘Old Monk’ Rum bottles, another wall takes the treatment of old rejected wire mesh welded to recycled metal angles along with waste glass. The bar front on this level and certain other walls are clad with wood found from packaging-waste and a Kinetic sculpture formed out of rejected aluminum sections. All the furniture in the space is also made out of industrial gears and rejected spares of machinery that form bases for all the recycled wood seats in the space.

There are three levels in the space. The lowest level is divided into three spaces- The dining area, gaming zone and a small dispense bar. The dining was planned at this level since it was adjacent to the kitchen area. The gaming zone was planned in the space adjacent to the dining to club the experience of dining with fun and games around it. The forms were mainly straight lined and simple to accentuate the grounded and basic nature of the space.

We have integrated a kinetic art sculpture that is suspended from the ceiling. It’s a moving piece of installation art we developed which was made out of waste aluminum sections. This element serves as a visual element as well as creates privacy for the diners. The walls in the toilets have art sending a subtle but clear message to us as citizens of this planet about our fast depleting resources.

The gaming zone has a piece of interactive art titled ‘Long live the Pool Table’. It is a random, bizzare and fun integration of Mario brother’s video game, a vintage typewriter to type poems or any text one wants to communicate along with the tabla and flute and a few other contraptions.

The approach in this project was very ‘hands-on’. The colour palette was earth tones and green. The palette ranged from sand colour to earth tones and greys. All materials were left exposed in their natural colours and tones. The shell of the space is mainly exposed brick and plain cement concrete floors and the accents and the furniture are in rejected steel, aluminium and packaging wood sections. Rejected patterned glass, wire mesh, old bulbs, old glass bottles and waste ply. Green walls form a major part of the space.