Kamat & Rozario Architecture: Instinct-driven Designing

Kamat & Rozario Architecture is a Bengaluru-based design practice showing a highly refined creative approach. The wide variety of projects handled by the studio is in focus here; covering the spectrum from homes to offices and restaurants to schools! Some of the projects have been sourced from their TFOD Profile, while others have been sourced from the internet. 

Lester Rozario graduated from MSRIT, Bangalore, and then embarked on a journey of discovering and exploring himself. As part of his journey he worked with several Bangalore based architects like Ulhas Rane, Nisha Mathew and Soumitro Ghosh. Even during his initial years of architecture he earned a lot of recognition for his work. He graduated with a gold medal in Architecture and received M S Ramaiah Founder’s Award and the Pidilite Industries Award for Excellence in Architectural Studies. His architectural thesis was placed amongst the All India Top 10 at the National Institute for Advanced Studies in Architecture (NIASA).

Smruti Kamat is a graduate from Kamla Raheja Institute for Architecture, Mumbai followed by a master’s degree from Virginia Tech, USA. While in the states, she worked in New York city at Calvert Wright Architecture PC. She had a lot of experience preceding Kamat & Rozario Architecture. Kamu Iyer of Architects’ Combine, Mumbai, marks the beginning of her career where she worked on projects of different scales. Later on she went on to work at Mathew & Ghosh where she met her future partner, Lester Rozario.  

Their project, Sharma House, is a modern day and age take on an age old concept of Vastushastra with an adaptive reuse of the existing structure. In its existing condition the house was too close to the neighbouring houses blocking all the natural sunlight. So they began with decluttering and get natural light inside keeping in mind the vastu pre-requisites. They managed to create a lively open to sky intimate space outdoors. They also reused all the doors and windows. This project is a beautiful amalgamation of brick and concrete.

The Stack house has a modest concept executed eloquently using a language of simplicity. The challenge at the site was to bring ample sunlight in the interiors and yet use the plot’s FSI effectively. As a solution, they create an open space around which the house is ‘stacked’ in the form of a tall block overlooking it. The open space is a small garden flanked by an interesting and tall boundary wall to ensure privacy. The wall is a creative sculptural mix of burnt bricks and mud blocks. This playful wall is exactly what Kamat and Lester architects is all about.

The 8 Bit office takes inspiration from the pixelated and colourful graphics of the 80’s video games. Planning was kept simple with closed spaces kept to a minimum. The workstations were located along the periphery and the closed rooms were brought to the centre of the space. This allowed natural light to flood the entire office.

The school building in Bangalore is designed in small section within the framework of an existing structural system. The portion between the incomplete structure and the school is made into a skylit ventilation shaft that connected all the three levels vertically. This is a very effective way of opening up the interior and providing a sense of outside. It also provides an opportunity for an indoor garden. The kindergarten section as at the ground level and higher section is at the top level with a sloping RCC roof. The central level has an auditorium designed as a multifunctional space. The space was not air-conditioned hence it needed a good ventilation with a varying amount of light for different purposes. To achieve this they use a double wall system with slits on the inner wall that could be closed to control the light penetrating within.

At Kamat & Rozario Architecture, they believe in expressing their beliefs through their work. Their approach to design is intensively process driven with paramount importance on concept. The design process includes interpretation of the client brief, heavily dependent on instinctive response and arriving at design decisions through rigorous rounds of discussions and arguments. A lot of what they do is a response to the context and site conditions which is their way of ensuring each design is unique in its own way. As part of their responsibility to planet earth, they strongly believe in climate responsive architecture and using locally available materials. 

Other Projects from Kamat & Rozario on TFOD:
 

Hazel Penthouse

White Canvas