Kohler experience center: New Delhi

Sanitary fittings major Kohler’s Experience Centre spanning across 10,000 sq ft at New Delhi’s Lajpat Nagar combines tech and craftsmanship to go much beyond than being a muted gallery. The brand’s first global flagship in India has been conceptualised and designed by Delhibased architectural firm Studio Lotus. In order to create a hands-on Immersive experience of their entire product range and technology behind the product, the Kohler Experience Centre is uniquely designed to celebrate innovation and diversity in a dynamic studio-like environment that invites designers and architects to use the space as an extension of their own offices.

Showers & stories

Spread across two floors, the 10,000sqft space in Delhi has been designed by Studio Lotus as a spartan monolithic shell dotted with luxurious materials. The seemingly simple space is a result of rigorous iterations, R&D and prototyping to create the challenging canvas that would highlight and tie the experience of over 600 products. This was achieved with a material palette of stained Birch, natural concrete floor with brass inserts, large format tiles, black and white Italian Marble, lacquered mild steel and White Ash timber. With four areas – Café and Designer Gallery at the ground level and Warehouse and Lab in the basement, each touch point is designed to elevate customer interactions.

Ode to design

Being the thought leader in design and innovations, Kohler dedicated a cafe space to display a part of their Artist Edition collection as art displays. While the Café was developed as a dedicated area for architect-client meetings and design events, the Designer Gallery provided an exciting opportunity to collaborate with seven leading Indian architects who created diverse bathroom suites. The gallery also has a permanent space dedicated to showcase two designer suites developed by Studio Lotus for the Kallista range of Kohler. The brand’s most premium collection is displayed along the periphery, as an outline to both the Café and the Designer Gallery.

What, why and how

The immersive Lab brings alive Kohler’s product innovation through interactive, live displays while the Warehouse curates a density of over 350 products through colour coded sub-zones distinguishing line-ups, collections and trends. The lab also features an interactive screen on birch finish wood wall that explains further on the behind-the-product tales of Kohler products.

In the warehouse, the display of the products is divided in six sub-zones and the modular display system is made of stained birch plyon slotted angles. “The idea was to give Kohler unlimited opportunity to add and showcase products,” added Asha Sairam, Design Principal, Studio Lotus. A team of experts was brought in to design specialised lighting for an even wash on the products, graphics and technology to highlight information and customised furniture for an integrated cohesive brand experience.

Credits:

• Design: Studio Lotus
• Tech Integration: EP&M India
• Interior Contractor: Tatva Interiors
• Graphic Design: Tree Frogs, Define Design & Strategy
• Fixtures Contractor: Ideation Studio
• Loose Furniture: Mangrove Collective
• Lighting: BDCL, Lux Lights, Lightbox
• Services Consultant: Abid Hussain Consultants
• Wall Finishes: SKK Paints
• Flooring Finish(concrete): Convow
• Photography: Andre J Fanthome