You don’t really want that. You want this…
An intriguing community building in a town near Kolkata demonstrates how strong creative solutions can come by helping the client to change their mind
When Abin Design Studio was asked by a client to build a garage so as to finish off a smart new house project in Bansberia, West Bengal, it did something different.
It persuaded the client that the site across the road might be better used to give something back to the neighbourhood. And so instead of a car park, the studio designed and built a beautiful community centre.
The client now leaves their cars on a different site further away while having given the local people the use of a multi-purpose, multi-level structure that is one of the most well-made in the town.
Gallery House, as the building is called, was built using more than 200 different kinds of brick. The designers wanted to celebrate traditional forms, increasingly being lost, and so installed a kiln on site to make the special brickwork. Working with the ceramic artist Partha Dasgupta, the designers also used rejected ceramic elements from industrial process, inserting these into the structure.
Originally the community space was designed upstairs, permitting parking at the lower level. But as the plan developed, it ended with no purpose-built space being left for cars. But the client’s generosity enabled a building that can do many things for the neighbourhood. And as they live across the road, they can have the benefit of it too. It certainly enhances the view.
The building sits on a route that is popular during festivals, so the building is in part also designed to work as a gallery position to observe and support activities around it.
