Fact File
Project: Hotel Rama Trident
Location: Katra, J&K
Site Area: 1,000 sqm
Total Built up Area: 30,000 sqft
Number of rooms: 40
Architecture & Interior Design: Studio Meraki
Completion: Jan 2017
Photos: Suryan/Dang
The site was a bonus as it had uninterrupted views of the mountains at the rear northeastern side. Vaastu and climatic conditions also favoured the orientation of the building as the main street was southwest facing indicative of the harsh sun during summers in striking contract to the skyline at the rear. Hence, the initial idea started with making the building porous at the rear side and closed at the front
A breathing green lawn acts as a foreground before the mountain views, for which the rooms above had to be cantilevered in order to free up space at the ground level. The flat seamless soffits required a lot of co-ordination work between the structure and the services. Also, Vaastu was important and in this arrangement of massing, the northeast sacred corner was left empty.
The façade’s vertical and horizontal louvres are the main elements that interact with the sunlight and bring some protection from the direct glare of the sun while screening the views of the street
Principal Ar. Shweta Kaw
Introducing daylight while balancing the thermal gain was a priority and hence all the spaces within are awash with natural daylight throughout the day, thereby conserving energy as well as reducing the cooling load. Cantilevered rooms above the ground floor provide sufficient shade to protect the ground floor lobby from getting hot during summers.
Terrace gardens on each floor bring a visual connect to the green and are an integral part of the design as is the creeper laden boundary wall and the elaborate planters on every floor. No heat gain in the rooms due to their northeast orientation provides thermal comfort. Rare openings on the south west that is mostly blocked with louvres create an interplay of light and shadow.
Another important intention was to have a strikingly different facade from the regular boxed arrangement of windows and ornamental balconies looking onto the street to a more novel and fresh approach that would be more thought through.
