Shades Of Understated Royalty
Ganjam, the luxury heritage jewellery brand celebrated the completion of 125 years by launching its flagship store in Bengaluru. With a legacy of being jewellers to Indian royalty, their name has grown synonymous with India’s leading luxury brands offering an exquisite blend of the modern and the traditional, both in their jewellery as well in the architectural aesthetic of their new store.
Located on Vittal Mallya Road, Ganjam’s flagship store is spread over 14,250 sqft and is a contemporary interpretation of a temple that reflects the deep heritage of the brand. The massive dimensions, the walls composed of cut stones, the harmonious integration into the landscape, the feeling of space and air that is felt everywhere, the carved columns, all combine to create a space that is evocative of Hampi and Dravidian architecture.
Says renowned design personality Denis Montel, Managing & Artistic Director, RDAI, who has designed stores for Hermes and other well acclaimed international luxury brands: “The spatial organisation and the layout are driven by the Vastu mandala where nature, man and his creations are all one. We definitely were convinced by the use of natural and authentic materials, and thus the idea to use solid stone for the façade design emerged.”
The texture, the colours, the relation to nature, the symbolic elements all inspires the creative team, on top of which they discovered the group of monuments at Hampi thanks to the wonderful photographic testimony of the Ganjam book. The austere and grandiose site of Hampi, with Dravidian temples and palaces won their admiration and stimulated their imagination and creativity.
“We tried to create for Ganjam a unique and sensorial experience, through a contemporary expression of this new space, though still linked with nature and with the 5 elements. All the important symbols for the brand – the Hampi temple, the peacock, the banyan tree, the number 5 – gave us the inspiration, their significant details, the sophistication and refinement of their handcrafting and their profound humanity and values told us to use natural materials: lime stone with a golden warm colour for the façade, the floor and the interior walls, a golden teak to express the contemporary Banyan tree, a high gloss rosewood for the furniture, an Indian silk paneling on the walls, wool and silk for the carpets inspired by the deep colours of a peacock, a bronze finished metal for the metal work in order to be differentiate and not compete with the precious jewellery colours.
The wish was to create a real massive and timeless architecture made of stone only. This aesthetic of mass and roughness gives a strong contrast with the refinement of the pieces of jewels. The building and the interior design is definitively contemporary. The reference to the Indian symbols are not obvious, they are all reinterpreted,” explains Montel.
The store comprises of individual retail spaces designed to offer personalised service to the customers.
Ganjam is at 22/12, Vittal Mallya Road,
Bengaluru
Call: +91 80 2226 1233
