Society Interiors

Grand Mercure Mysuru – Architectural Review

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Ode To Royalty

Mysore or Mysuru as it is now known has always had a royal connection courtesy its numerous palaces and the link with royal family. Now there is a new link to this royal lineage in the form of an all new luxury hotel the Grand Mercure Mysuru.

The Concept

Grand Mercure is the brand for a destination like Mysuru, where art and culture has contributed significantly to the city’s heritage and therefore, combines rich local traditions and aesthetics with contemporary modern touches to deliver a fresh perspective on world-class service. “The brand has been carefully selected for Mysuru, as the brand essence of ‘bringing stories to life’ resonates strongly with the city and its travellers. The Grand Mercure Mysuru is situated on the legendary New Sayaji Rao Road that hosts the world-famous Dasara procession. Keeping all this in mind, our vision was to offer the elements of rich Mysuru culture along with special arrangements to witness the world renounced Dasara Procession. We closely worked with the design team to imbibe these elements in the property so that we can successfully incorporate the much needed essence that describes the brand,” explains Sachin Malhotra, General Manager, Grand Mercure Mysuru. This is why the vibrant interior décor is reminiscent of the erstwhile Kingdom’s royal glory in Mysuru. The chandeliers and paintings of artwork of the hotel display a holistic and soulful concept of history and archeology of Mysuru. The philosophy of embracing the local culture and traditions is further reflected in the names of the hotel’s exclusive four restaurants, delicatessen, meeting rooms and banqueting facilities.

Architect Speak

The Brigade Group wanted a building that would give visitors to Mysuru a preview or a sample taste before they actually experienced the grandeur of Mysore Palace and other significant buildings in the city. Given that the hotel is strategically located on the pathway for the world famous Dussehra procession, the owners wanted this experience of the grand parade to be accessible from the guest rooms and the specially created viewing gallery on the roof top. Grand Mercure Mysuru has been conceived to reflect the rich heritage of Mysuru and its grand architecture, while offering a contemporary hospitality experience. “Located at a significant junction en route the famous Dussehra procession, the property provides a grand arrival experience through its tall and well detailed metal gates, within high stone boundary walls inspired by the Mysore Palace. A cobbled arrival court with water flowing down natural granite clad walls greets each guest and provides the visitor a royal experience,” says Rahul Kumar, Principal Architect, R.K. Associates.

Tradition Meets Contemporary

Inspired by traditional elements of the palace buildings of the royal city, Grand Mercure Mysuru offers a unique and impressive arrival experience at the entrance. The high boundary walls and gates, porte-cochere with traditional elements, natural granite in the façade and roof top features portrays the traditional architectural elements in a contemporary manner. There is a frequent use of silk patterns, reflecting Mysuru’s age old history of silk production and intricate designs. The use of different saree patterns, adorning the walls of the banquet halls, the design on lobby panels and the hotel’s carpet, are the ones that once graced the royalty. “We wanted Mysuru’s famous traditional architecture to be reflected within the arrival court and façade of the hotel, all in a contemporary setting. Natural stone and textured stucco were used to replicate this character. These were detailed and along with the wood-finished windows, they formed parts of a façade embellished with traditional cornices and features created in Glass Reinforced Concrete (GRC) Jali patterns, inspired from Mysuru’s traditional royal homes and buildings, highlight the terraces of special rooms, particularly when lit up at night. The chandeliers in the lobby take us back to a time where ceilings of the ‘Grand Darbar’ halls in the royal palaces were lit up with light reflecting off the numerous crystals. While retaining the old world charm, we at Grand Mercure Mysuru have adopted a more contemporary approach by using a modern design of the chandeliers, resulting in bringing the same grandeur to the ceilings,” explains Rahul.

Hotel Aesthetics

The hotel has a choice of six different kinds of rooms ranging from deluxe, executive, junior and deluxe suites. All rooms come with plush fittings and attached bathrooms that are fully functional. There are two restaurants By The Blue a specialty Indian restaurant serving traditional dishes from selected culinary destinations from North West frontier region and North India overlooking the pool and the La Uppu, an innovative trendy all day dining restaurant apart from a bar. “We had to work within a limited land area that was surrounded by old structures. The idea was to design 146 spacious guest rooms, an appropriate sized banquet and food and beverage outlets offering an interesting view, with the option of an alfresco dining.  The massing and planning of the building was designed to screen the neighbouring structures very carefully to provide the best views inside. Due to the relatively smaller footprint and the height constraints, the planning and co-ordination within all disciplines had to be meticulous to ensure all spaces of good proportions and heights,” explains Rahul. If you are looking for a royal holiday in a royal city, go to Grande Mercure.

About Rajinder Kumar Associates (RKA)

Rahul Kumar is Principal Architect at of one of India’s most respected and the leading hospitality design Architectural firm – Rajinder Kumar Associates (RKA). RKA is a multidisciplinary firm specialising in Architecture, Planning, Interior Design & Engineering and has been selected and awarded by Construction World Magazine as one of the Top Ten Architects in India, thrice in the last 5 years. Over the last 35 years RKA has designed several prestigious and landmark projects in the country.

Address: B-/17,Shopping Centre, Safdarjung Enclave, Delhi – 110029.

Phone: +(91)-11-26162930, 26179093, 26162931  +(91)-11-26186874

Grand Mercure Mysuru

Address: 203 60 New Sayyaji Rao Road – Nelson Mandela Circle, Mysuru 570021

Phone: (+91) 821 4021212

Email: h9306-re@accor.com

This appeared in the Nov 2016 issue of Society Interiors here.

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