Coffee Pavilion on the Premises of the Elite Hotel Ibnii in India

Coffee Pavilion on the Premises of the Elite Hotel Ibnii in India

© Ravindra Kanade

The café designed on the premises of the elite Ibnii hotel in Karnataka, India, by Playgroup Studio and AHCPL architects was conceived to become a kind of sanctuary in the middle of the vast resort area. This is not by accident, as the Kurg region, where the hotel is located, is India's largest coffee-growing area.

By concentrating the supporting weight columns in the center of the building and leaving the roof edges free, architects create the impression that it rests on the glass facade of the pavilion.

The approach to the café is organized around a lake so that visitors enter through the back of the building. Only after guests enter the café itself do they get a breathtaking view of the lake through the glass wall. A heavy wooden door fixed in the center of this thin transparent facade emphasizes its lightness and creates a ceremonial exit to the external terrace.

On the terrace are production tanks that were preserved from the previous construction and used for coffee roasting, while here and there throughout the pavilion landscape, coffee trees are scattered.

Photos: Ravindra Kanade, Harsh Patel