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Jaipur Rugs’ flagship store in Bengaluru is a modern tribute to the Pink City

Designed by AD100 architects Sandeep Khosla and Amaresh Anand, the space celebrates Jaipur’s heritage without resorting to cliches

When Yogesh Chaudhary, director of

Jaipur Rugs

, decided to open the brand's flagship store at Indiranagar in Bengaluru, he knew just who to call to execute his vision. Architect Sandeep Khosla, founder and principal of AD100 firm

Khosla Associates

, readily agreed to the project, having previously collaborated with the luxury carpet brand on their Kolam collection of rugs alongside his wife, graphic designer Tania Singh Khosla. "While taking on a retail space, our criteria is that we must love the product that is on display as well as connect with the company producing it. Jaipur Rugs is a sustainable brand that's high on social impact and supports over 40,000 weavers across the country. This resonated with us," he says.

The marble relief work on the entrance wall is inspired by Shantanu Garg's previous designs for Jaipur Rugs.

A loom installed at the foyer and photos showcasing the making of the handcrafted rugs were the architects' way of honouring the brand's legacy.

Khosla and his partner and principal designer Amaresh Anand received a practical brief detailing requirements for back of house areas, an office space, and storage. The rest was left open-ended on the understanding that they were already familiar with the brand's ethos of showcasing “contemporary Jaipur”.

The material palette was carefully chosen to provide a neutral backdrop for the rugs on display. The flooring is matte grey porcelain tile and the walls and ceiling are in white stucco.

While the heritage city served as inspiration for the design language, Jaipur Rugs’ latest store is refreshingly devoid of cliches. “We approached the idea with a strong conceptual thought process. Our interpretation of contemporary

Jaipur

elements is quite abstract rather than literal,” explains Khosla. A fluted, salmon coloured wall gently curves across the showroom, demarcating the display area and concealing the administrative sections. Openings reminiscent of

jharokhas

nod at the city’s architecture and frame the myriad collections of handcrafted rugs on offer. Elsewhere, feature walls and ledges in Banswara marble subtly hint at the

stepwells

of the old city.

Tools used during the rug-making process from displays on feature walls, a nod to the unsung artisans who handcraft each rug.

Khosla and Anand also took creative cues from the rugs themselves. A closer look at the free-standing Banswara marble wall at the entrance reveals relief work depicting frangipani leaves. “One of the rugs that [architect and interior designer] Shantanu Garg had designed for Jaipur Rugs caught our eye. We asked Shantanu for the original artwork that we then simplified and gave to Orvi Design Surfaces in Jaipur to carve into the

marble

,” Khosla points out. The showstopper, however, can be found presiding over the seating area in the centre of the showroom. The Rajasthani architectural motifs from designer Matteo Cibic’s Wunderkammer collection were customized and turned into a 37-foot-long, hand-knotted rug that functions as a mural. Together with the marble diwan, it creates a regal scene without upstaging the other displays.

A 37-foot-long carpet, which is a reinterpretation of Matteo Cibic's Wunderkammer collection for Jaipur Rugs, forms the backdrop of the seating area. The salmon, pistachio green, and grey colour palette ensures it blends in with the rest of the showroom.

A love of light and the dovetailing of the indoors and outdoors is a Khosla Associates signature. When they visited the site, the architects were pleased to find an abundance of natural light flooding in from three sides. “That too primarily from the north and east which is the best quality of soft light. This was a big criteria in choosing the space,” notes Anand. The challenge then was to temper it to best suit the showroom. Sheer white linen curtains control the ingress of sunlight at the periphery. Planters bring in greenery but also do their part to filter the light. “We also positioned free-standing walls that would cut out harsh light in certain locations and act as displays,” he adds.