The existing building, a unit in the middle income housing sector in Panampilly Nagar, Kochi. The programme for the project was a flagship store on handcrafted jewellery for the brand Pure Allure which specialises in precious handcrafted jewellery from Jaipur, Rajasthan. The brief had to be executed with a shoestring budget in a small area of 650 sq. ft. The programme was indeed very new for us. We had to be cautious of the materials and the architecture of the display units as it could possibly conflict with the intricate and ostentatious collection of stone and other materials on the handmade Rajasthan jewellery.

To tackle the problems presented, we chose to place the jewellery on display stands / objects occupying an understated mono material space analogous to the stone step wells of Rajasthan. Here the mono material covering the floors and walls of the converted space is that of cement and the jewellery is placed on sleek geometric display units which stand out from the mono material background. The display shelves share the mono material language and were devised so that the customer has a clear view of the jewellery irrespective of the level on which it is placed on and it also achieves the requirement to accommodate the extensive collection of handcrafted jewellery offered.

Photographs by Syam Sreesylam