Lesser the design brief, greater is the responsibility of the designer

“Sometimes you really have to break the rules to make things look different.” This statement holds true in the featured project ‘Blitzz Sports Café’ in Chennai. The brief was simple ‘design a sports themed café, which is original and true to the theme.’ Space Sense, MD & CEO Rtn. K.Senthil Ram feels “The lesser the brief, greater the responsibility; and needless to say the freedom that comes with it. It is projects like these that designers yearn for, and is a designer’s delight.” Picture6SPACE SENSE was started in 2007 to fulfil the growing need for innovation and diverse Exteriors and Interiors essential in a booming Real Estate and Construction Industry.The Creative Design team of Space Sense is headed by its MD & CEO Rtn. K.Senthil Ram, who is technically specialized Interior Designer having been trained in Australia & Italy. He is assisted by a specialized team of junior architects, interior designers, engineers and visualisers. The entrance to the café sets the tone right by having the perfect lighting in the form of LED strips below every stairs and from within a custom made hand rail. Also the surface of the stairs is covered with artificial turf to give a field like feel.

Entrance
The graffiti wall with palm prints at the entrance. People feel they are walking into a stadium or a sports field.
Picture3
Sporting colors like green, red, orange rust used predominantly.

The sports theme picks up from where it left and continues to the interior with bright green walls with sports lettering. The cutouts in the ceiling with LED aqua wash adds to the dramatic effect of the space.The general seating area is mainly targeted at big groups and hence seating is provided to suit the specific needs, though it is flexible.The walls are all muted with white to make custom made furniture pieces stand out. To provide different and more flexible arrangement to the group seating, there are assorted loungers along with custom made cushions with football teams logos.To liven up the wall are various sporting balls from golf balls to footballs to tennis balls to add to the flavour.Also inspired by F1 are converted alloy wheels on coffee tables.The fine dining is quite sporty. This is mainly for the family group wherein they would like to sit and eat in a relaxed manner.

Area earmarked for a memorable girls time out.

A special area earmarked for having a memorable girls time out. The “Lip” sofa screams girly and plush.The other section of the seating is inspired by flower petals as is evident from the seater’s and is custom made.

Cabin for private groups
Cabin for private groups

When asked about the challenges faced during the execution of the project, Senthil said “There are always challenges in any interior project we do, big or small. The biggest challenge came with the space itself, since it was a basement and we had to deal with the inherent problems of water seepage, cracks and other related problems. However it was overcome with customised and unique ideas for the space.

“The next biggest challenge was implementation of design. Each and every element of the design has to be custom made right from furniture’s to wall finishes to ceiling. Getting the design and quality finish is always a challenge but lucky for us we had one the best team backing us. So many hurdles were overcome which would have evoked rejection by any other team citing the design is “impossible” to implement. Our contractor was so interested in learning the new ideas and techniques suggested by me which in turn made things easier despite challenges.”

Blitzz, is one of a kind theme café which does justice to the theme as it is clearly evident from the media exposure, visitors smile and shock and the clients constant beaming face. One of the most valued aspects of their team’s service is the knowledge they bring to project development.  Of course, no project succeeds by just one man’s effort. Although it was designed by Senthil, his team worked tirelessly to bring out his vision. Senthil contemplated “Mr. Arasan, our senior supervisor and site in charge has to deserve a special mention. He took full control and responsibility of the site voluntarily and managed it to near perfection. He co-ordinated with all the vendors and contract team and made sure the design was implemented without any changes. He is a problem solver and thinks ahead on the project which is a major plus point.”

Blend

FREE
VIEW