Go Native, the home store and restaurant that promotes sustainable and responsible living, gets an ecological avatar in one of its new spaces that was once an industrial unit.

Go Native the brainchild of Anvitha Prashanth, a young Bangalore based entrepreneur is a store that takes ecological sustainability very seriously and its new store designed by Bijoy Ramachandran, Principal Architect, Hundred Hands and Tanushri Dalmiya, Founder and Principal Architect, Vayam is an ode to all things green.

The building has three parts; the air-conditioned enclosed retail space at the front, a middle section with an open verandah, the waterbody and the two brick buildings which house all the utilities and services, and the rear has two levels of air-conditioned space, conferencing/meeting rooms below and co-working above. The primary building is built in steel, with concrete deck slabs and the roof is covered with an insulated metal roofing sheet.

A big part of the interiors was driven by the ethos and values of the brand Go Native itself. Bijoy explains, ” In Go Native too the primary spine though linear has varying thickness, volume and extent of enclosure to accommodate different kinds of inhabitation. Our other preoccupation is the notion of contrast – in terms of spatial experience, materiality, structure, porosity and so on. Our work for Go Native draws deep inspiration from B.L. Manjunath’s (our structural engineer) particular genius for creating delicate, refined metal structural systems. We thought of the project as a conversation between his light, porous structure and a series of heavy, ponderous, opaque brick elements. The sense of weight and delicacy are heightened by this juxtaposition. By modulating the composition of contrasting conditions we heighten the sense of these qualities. The trick is the tolerance between these to achieve balance and a sense of calm.”

Working with the Soliga community, we conducted several tests to understand the nature and properties of the woody material and saw an incredible opportunity to replace cane and bamboo and use natural materials and waste in design by twisting them in the form of lights. “We used GoNative as a testing ground for this and teamed up with Oorjaa to use these weeds as lights. Wrapped as sticks around a banana paper pendant, Lantana took the form of dew drops suspended in a double height volume, hovering over colourful weaves of handwoven sarees that truly celebrate the spirit and craft of Karnataka. Plays to the idea of celebrating what is local. Redefining waste as luxury,” says Tanushri.

Read the full story that first appeared in The New Indian Express dated Jan 15, 2023 here: