Luxury, by design
ARUNA CHANDARAJU
|
Meet Shalini and Amit Gehlot, architects who transformed the Taj Rambagh Palace Hotel into one of the best modern properties, but retaining the Rajputana feel and ambience…
|
PHOTOS: ARUNA CHANDARAJU
PERFECT SYNC: Shalini and Amit Gehlot.
When Shalini passed out from IIT, Roorkee in 1997 with a silver medal, she missed the gold by a whisker. However, there was no disappointment. The gold-medallist and good friend Amit Gehlot became her husband, shortly after! What began as a love marriage also grew into a fruitful professional partnership. Shalini and Amit set up ASA, a design firm, in Jaipur, working together on projects in architecture, interior-design and lighting.
ASA's work received recognition from the Leading Hotels of the World and its prestigious programme Leading by Design when, in 2006, ASA was added to this elite group. Only 20 design companies worldwide are part of this list and ASA, the only Indian one!
The Gehlots' much-appreciated work includes an international management institute; the convention centre at the Rajasthan CM's office; a centre for the disabled; chain of spas at Jaipur, Jodhpur and Mumbai; office and retail spaces, etc. Their biggest triumph and pride is Taj Rambagh Palace hotel, an internationally-admired heritage-property and former residence of the Jaipur Maharaja.
Wide acclaim
For nine years, Shalini and Amit worked to extensively redesign and renovate Rambagh Palace. It was recently voted world's best hotel by Conde Nast Travelerreaders. The couple received the Pevonia Asia Spa award for Best Architect of the Year 2008 for Rambagh's Jiva Spa. Guided tours of the hotel on request are common for awed hotel guests, visitors, architects, and architecture/design students. Buoyed by the widespread acclaim for Rambagh, the Gehlots have now made the luxury-hospitality sector their focus area.
The nine painstaking years have resulted in a property which is breathtakingly beautiful and exudes a sensuous luxury, combining aesthetic excellence and high functionality, revealing an amazingly detailed recreation of the Rajputana royal tradition in architecture and interior-design.
For the couple, this association with Rambagh began with their college dissertation on its extension through expansion, renovation and upgradation including suggestions. The impressed royal family soon took them on as principal consultants.
The Gehlots' biggest challenges were to retain the period look and old-world charm while offering international standard-facilities; and to achieve operational excellence with aesthetic values. “We first took pains to get a clear brief –– the royal family wanted a world-class product fit for today's luxury traveller which retained the original character of the palace. We then studied palace archives, understanding its history and evolution from minor building to the royals' main residence and then a somewhat staid hotel.”
The couple also had to achieve functional interrelationships between front-of-house (guest movement) and back-of-house (service movement) since this property wasn't meant to be a hotel. And all this had to be done while the hotel was running! “So we drew up a master plan which phased the entire project into about 10 off-seasons. We worked on 20 to 30 rooms at one go. While working on one lobby we created a temporary lobby. We worked on one restaurant at a time while the others were running.”
Traditional ambience
New architectural features were introduced and existing ones modified. Many Rajputana elements like jharokas, stylised porches, and stone fretwork were added. Spaces were altered so 104 rooms became 79. Interiors received extensive makeovers with customised products. Exquisite pure silk (including zardosi) furnishings, meenakari, thekri, and gold-leaf frescoes for walls and ceilings were added as were superb period furniture/accessories like four-poster beds, chairs, paintings, gilded mirrors, lights, etc. Products from top international brands were also placed, as the royals were widely travelled.
The couple also ensured each room and public area looked different by styling each differently down to the smallest detail. So, the dining areas, lounge-bar Steam with made-over railway coaches and elegant lounge areas, the grand Swarna Mahal, and classy all-day Rajput Room are very different from one another. The regal Presidential Suite, every Historical and Royal suite, and Palace Rooms are each unique in look though all are equally artistic.
The couple has a general design philosophy which they synergise with their project-specific approach: “We give a project a sense of place, imbuing local elements into the design form so as to remind the guest/visitor constantly that they are in a certain part of the world. Yet, we also remain contemporary without dating the design. Our aim is to create innovative designs that endure. We are still students, though, and have a long way to go.”
Celebrated today as one of
the world's finest palacehotels,
Taj Rambagh Palace
actually began life as a
small building made for the
queen's favourite
handmaiden in 1835. Later,
it became a royal hunting
lodge and guesthouse and, in
1925, the palace-residence
of Maharaja of Jaipur. In
1957, Maharaja Sawai Man
Singh II made it a luxury
hotel. The Taj took over in
1972. Recreated by
architects Shalini and Amit
Gehlot into a magnificent
heritage hotel, Rambagh
today is an outstanding
piece of art.
Printer friendly
page
Send this article to Friends by
E-Mail
Magazine
