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THE NEW PARLIAMENT BUILDING FOR INDIA, NEW DELHI

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CENTRE FOR GREEN BUILDING MATERIALS & TECHNOLOGY (CGBMT), DEVANAHALLI

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THE WORLD’S OLDEST SURFACE IS FUTURE STRONG

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Sep - Oct 2026

Jul - Aug 2026

May - Jun 2026.

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KALIMAN KOLAMBI

Inspired by traditional percussion instruments such as the Idakka and Maddalam from Kerala, Sivaprakash, Founder of Clay Hands Pottery Studio and a third-generation terracotta artist from Nilambur, developed his first clay amplifier in 2019. He went on to experiment with the Kaliman Kolambi – zero-electricity, eco-friendly acoustic smartphone amplifiers made from baked clay. The technology behind the amplifiers harnesses the principles of natural acoustic physics to produce deep, warm audio directly from a smartphone, without the need for wires, Bluetooth devices, or batteries.

SUSTAINABLE FURNITURE

Ahmedabad-based Ek Kalakaar Designs follows the philosophy of ‘Recycled + Reusable and Flawed + Fabulous’, producing chairs, tables, benches, lamps, and other home décor products from discarded materials. The studio sustainably sources raw materials including metal, glass, wood, MS pipes, plastic, concrete, rubber, and fabric. Its design philosophy is rooted in recognising the potential of materials that are often discarded and transforming them into highly valued objects.

CLT BENCH

Designed by London-based architects Theo Games Petrohilos, Kaowen Ho, and Ben Hayes of Unknown Works, the CLT Bench is crafted from four interlocked Cross-Laminated Timber panels. The design eliminates the need for metal fixings, relying instead on traditional wood joinery. Designed as a freestanding piece, the bench features shallow seating scallops machined into its top surface on two sides.

Fabricated from spruce or pine, the bench celebrates the natural character of wood, with its grain visible across the flat surfaces and through the exposed layered edges of the cut Cross-Laminated Timber panels.

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Apple Battersea, London

Located in the Turbine Hall of Battersea Power Station, Apple Battersea adopts an inclusive, modular, and sustainable approach to its experience centre. Designed by Foster + Partners, the store occupies a historic Grade II* listed landmark. Four central brick columns have been preserved to enhance the character of the space, complementing a palette of timber, terrazzo, and exposed metal. A glazed storefront with bronze framing retains the heritage-focused design approach while blending seamlessly with the neighbouring retail units within the Turbine Hall.

Avyaana, Mumbai

Rooted in the Wabi-sabi philosophy, Avyaana, designed by Pentaspace Design Studio, evokes simplicity through its design language. Led by Ar. Gaurav Sanghavi and Ar. Harsh Pote, Co-Founders, and Tanmay Mukherjee, Partner, the project aims to represent imperfection, transience, and restraint. Time is an important element of the design, as the space evolves with changing light, shadows, and human presence. Enclosed on three sides by taller structures, the site receives limited peripheral light. While most experience centres aim to impress through visual impact, Avyaana creates an environment that remains welcoming and reflective.

Birla Taranya Experience Center, Mumbai

Housed within dense tree cover, this 14,000 sq. ft. experience centre, designed by Modez Consultants LLP, spans five interconnected blocks. The design team, led by Ar. Amogh Sule and Ar. Pritish Ghamandi, Co-Founders, and Ar. Preshita Chaudhari, Associate Partner, connected the blocks through pocket courtyards and landscaped spaces that bring in air, light, and greenery. The client envisioned a space that was both grand and welcoming while responding sensitively to its surroundings. The site’s unusually dense tree cover presented a primary design challenge, which ultimately became the project’s defining feature. Modez Consultants adopted a cluster-based design strategy, breaking the built form into smaller interconnected volumes positioned around the existing vegetation.

CORO Experience Centre, Bengaluru

The CORO Experience Centre, designed by Checkered Spaces, Bengaluru, explores how surfaces, textures, and materials can look and feel when approached differently. Led by Ar. Neha Vikram, Founder and Principal Designer, the centre invites architects, interior designers, and homeowners to explore, test, and imagine possibilities for their projects. Moving away from traditional product display formats, the design team incorporated products into the centre’s floors, walls, partitions, and installations. This creates an immersive experience, allowing visitors to see and experience the products in real time. The centre is designed to evolve through bespoke products, custom displays, and installations, enabling new ideas to take shape.

Craig & Rose Experience Centre, Chennai

Designed by The Zarc Architecture & Design, Chennai, the Craig & Rose Experience Centre introduces a design vocabulary that moves away from conventional paint stores. Led by Ar. Mashaal Jahanzaib, Ar. Sushmitha Shivakumar, and Ar. Anam Hayath, Founders, the project responds to Craig & Rose’s Scottish heritage while incorporating contemporary elements to enhance customer experience. Craig & Rose is a Scottish paint company established in 1829 and has worked on several landmark projects around the world. For its first experience centre in Chennai, the brief called for a design that was distinctly different from a conventional retail environment. The architects anchored the design language in Scottish design while introducing modern elements to enhance customer experience.

Ezhomz Experience Centre, New Delhi

Arquite, New Delhi, designed the Ezhomz Experience Centre in response to a brief that sought to move away from the sterile, plastic-heavy aesthetic associated with modern retail. Instead, the team, led by Ar. Kapil Razdan and Ar. Seema Pandey, Co-Founders, housed high-end home automation within recycled brick structures, guided by the principle of Kinetic Invisibility. Beyond gadgets, the space promotes ancestral masonry alongside future intelligence. Rather than adopting an aggressive consumerist design language, Arquite chose to create an environment centred around calm technology. The 3,500 sq. ft. experience centre uses brick and stone to create a tactile contrast to the complexity of the digital age.

Kohler Experience Centre, Bengaluru

Designed by Studio Lotus, Bengaluru, this 10,000 sq. ft. experience centre marks Kohler’s third centre in the country and its second collaboration with the studio. Led by Des. Asha Sairam, Design Principal, the project commemorates Kohler’s 150th anniversary of providing premium sanitaryware to the Indian market. Spanning two floors, the centre follows the original template established for Kohler’s first flagship store in New Delhi. However, Studio Lotus sought to emphasise the individual character of each space, including the reception and café, gallery, laboratory, and warehouse.

R-Homes Experience Centre, Ghaziabad

Designed by Confluence, New Delhi, the 16,000 sq. ft. R-Homes Experience Centre functions as both a workspace and a design display, integrating traditional courtyard planning into a contemporary commercial environment. Led by Ar. Vineeta Singhania and Ar. Vishal Sharma, Founders, Partners, and Principal Architects, the project creates an artistic living environment that balances openness and privacy. The urban plot is surrounded by dense neighbourhoods, making the integration of natural elements central to the design. An open-to-sky courtyard brings in natural light and cross-ventilation, anchored by a Champa tree and a lotus pond. Curated art, water bodies, and an interplay of light and shadow culminate in a 7.5-m-high lobby.

Soulstory Experience Centre, Kolkata

Designed by Abin Design Studio, Kolkata, the Soulstory Experience Centre seeks to create an environment where furniture can be experienced through atmosphere, material, light, and spatial movement rather than through conventional retail displays. Led by Ar. Abin Chaudhuri, Principal Architect, the design establishes a dialogue between Italian furniture and an architectural language inspired by Indian traditions. The project responds closely to Kolkata’s cultural context, creating a spatial experience that moves beyond product display to explore the relationship between furniture, architecture, and everyday life.

Vanto Retail Store, Hyderabad

Located in a busy Hyderabad neighborhood, Vanto is an expansive 50,000 sq. ft. décor showroom that channels the intimacy of a home. Mita Mehta Studio, Hyderabad, led by Ar Mita Mehta, wished to move away from the standard large-format furniture stores concept of never-ending aisles, visual clutter, and a visual disconnect between products and their place in the home. The challenge was to make a huge inventory navigable without causing decision fatigue and to design a commercial space where one could imagine living. Layouts were divided by levels, with products categorized into living areas, bedrooms, dining spaces, entertainment zones, and outdoor setups.

IFJ SURFACES

The Future Of Wood-Based Materials

As material expectations evolve, wood-based panels are no longer defined by strength and functionality alone. Customers increasingly seek materials that combine performance, aesthetics, durability, safety, sustainability, and design flexibility. Reflecting these changing expectations, industry leaders such as Sanidhya Mittal, Joint Managing Director, Greenply, have expanded beyond traditional plywood portfolios into a broader spectrum of wood-panel and interior infrastructure solutions, including MDF, WPC, decorative veneers, doors, and specialty panels.

The Rise Of Performance-Driven Surfaces

Surfaces are increasingly being viewed as active elements of the built environment rather than simply the final layers of a finished product. Their ability to influence acoustics, light, thermal comfort, durability, and the overall sensory experience of a space is changing how architects and designers approach material selection. Against this backdrop, Varun Poddar, Director, VOX India, highlights the development of engineered surface systems that bring together aesthetics, functionality, and material behaviour.

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