VMRD - Visual Merchandising and Retail Design feature of WRAP-4

1. The key component of the WRAP series is the blurring of boundaries between floors,
walls and ceilings to create a sense of movement in space
INdIaN dESIGN 38

2. Characterised by
movement
The average car showroom in India is essentially an aesthetically enhanced parking lot
embellished with the brand colours and designed to place the products at the core of
the visual experience. But the showroom for Hyundai in Kozhikode (Calicut), designed
by Mumbai-based Collaborative Architecture for KTC Automobiles, is a space that is
conceptually unique without detracting from the need to make the product the centerpiece
of the presentation.
T
he Hyundai showroom in Kozhikode is standard, run-of-the-mill design directions.
the fourth in Collaborative architecture's
WRaP series, an approach not restricted “The client wanted to dispense with the
to or defined by any particular project but parking lot approach and create a nice
rather an overarching effort to generate new backdrop for the product display,” explains
idioms and innovations in design. In fact, the Lalita Tharani of Collaborative architecture.
previous manifestation of the concept was for “The brief was to insert the whole gamut of
an informatics centre at an orphanage. program for a middle-segment brand in a
12,000 sq. ft., old warehouse. The showroom is
“We have a very strong conceptual back at a strategic urban location that smacks the
ground and WRaP is a formal architectural main street of the city and this became the
investigation in manipulating spatial indices architectural direction and the determining
to create architectural character in space,” design parameters for WRaP-4.”
explains Mujib ahmed of Collaborative
architecture. "The first two projects in the The showroom abuts the main street, with no
series were not really evolved in terms of set back, and has a 60 metre long, uninterrupted
spatial autonomy but the concept reached façade. But the disposition of the showroom
its maturity with the now internationally posed a unique design challenge as the façade
renowned informatics centre project. What abuts the road but the customers enter from
makes WRaP-4 exceptional is that we could the backside of the showroom. Unlike most
successfully implement a highly concept of the stores, which are designed for front
oriented project in the Indian retail sector, viewing, here the design had to address the
which is just an impossible task and that too changing experiential views of the spectator,
in a large format store." by receiving them at the back of the showroom
and still keep the interest unwavering as they
The key component of the WRaP series is the explore the display from the rear.
blurring of boundaries between floors, walls
and ceilings to create a sense of movement The architectural response was to position the
in space. The biggest challenge for the project, vehicular display as the raison d'etre and the
according to ahmed, was for the client to anchoring element in the showroom. a wrap,
convince Hyundai to veer away from their which merges the floor, wall, ceiling and the
39 MAR - APR 2010

3. The architectural response was to position the vehicular display as the raison d'etre and
the anchoring element in the showroom
products into a single, unified entity, serves to
establish the vital link between the showroom,
the display and the people in the showroom
on one hand and the speeding traffic and the
passers-by on the street on the other. The view
into the space is a 60 metre 'billboard’ that
seems to mimic the flux of movement on the
street.
The wrap, made from Forbo, envelopes the
entire elevated display section for premium
cars , making this section the highlight of
the space, and continues along the ceiling
to provide a canopy for the mid-range cars.
The customer interface counters in the space,
fabricated from Corian, ply and metal, have
been suspended from the ceiling and have
the provision to be slid and rotated to a new
position to maneuver vehicles in the space.
The accessory section, located along the
walkway between the entrance and the display
sections, has been designed as a visual link to
the showroom. as customers enter from the
rear, the display shelves are detailed to draw
their gaze from the reception side and drawing
them towards the showroom. a sinusoidal
curve separates the private domains-lounges
from the public area.
The overall colour palette of the space stays
true to the corporate colour direction of the
brand - deep blue, grey, silver and white – but
with some modulations. So, the showroom The accessory section, located along the walkway between the entrance and the
display sections, has been designed as a visual link to the showroom
MAR - APR 2010 40

4. The showroom is dominated by the wrap, which is blue,
the lounges are in grey & white with sparse use of blue
The display shelves are detailed to draw their gaze from the reception side and drawing
them towards the showroom
is dominated by the wrap, which is blue, the Architects
lounges are in grey & white with sparse use of Collaborative architecture
blue while the reception is in blue and white.
Client
Lighting, as is typical to most of Collaborative's KTC automobiles
projects, becomes one of the major definers
of space. “They are not merely functional and Project team
scene generation in scope, but an active tool Lalita Tharani, Mujib ahmed, Shoukath,
in defining spaces,” explains ahmed. .
Façade
The WRaP-4 project has won three National Excel Systems
awards as well as an International award
and is considered to be one of the finest Light Fixtures
automobile retail interfaces internationally by artlite
the industry l
False Ceiling
India Gypsum, Forbo
The overall colour palette of the space stays true to
Plywood the corporate colour direction of the brand - deep
Feroke Plywoods blue, grey, silver and white
Laminates Hardware
Greenlam dorma, Hafele
Flooring Paints
Navin Ceramics, Forbo asian Paints, dupont
Counters & Tabletops Louvers
Corian, dupont Hunter douglas
HVAC Chairs
Bluestar amber, Featherlite
MAR - APR 2010 41