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Vintage wooden arch for New Delhi boutique

Photography: Arunima Agarwal

Furniture: I’m the Center for Applied Arts

New Delhi-based RMDK has designed Heritage, a wedding boutique that wanted to showcase a larger-than-life shopping experience for its clients. The client wanted a blend of contemporary and luxurious translations of the Indian heritage. The firm researched the intended use and aesthetics of the space, including prototyping and experimentation to maintain its artisanal authenticity.

Divided into four zones, the boutique has a prêt wear section, a fabric section, a saree section, and a bridalwear section. All of these segments are planned to allow the inflow of spaces while maintaining an intimate experience bound together by a central theme. The pre-existing ground floor continues into the second floor through a wall paneling derived from the brand’s logo, ‘Heritage’ in English and Hindi. The repeating letters create a pattern, first through wall engravings in hand-cast concrete panels and overlapping metal screens, creating an interesting interplay of shadows.

This interactive wall, framing the prêt wear, adds a raw essence to the space, celebrating the beauty of handwork and its effortless charm. The base texture of the concrete panels is embellished with a brass screen, resembling the base fabric embroidered with designs. Locally-sourced wood is hand-cut, scraped, and hand-treated using organic stains such as tea, coffee, soda, steel wool, and vinegar. Later, it is decorated with delicate symbols inspired by Hindu scriptures, such as lotus, deity’s feet, a kalash, and the Swastika. Ochre Indian patented stone flooring symbolizes the auspicious ‘yellow’ touch in Indian weddings, such as the Haldi ceremony. It signifies stability, royalty, and happiness along with enhancing the store’s traditional appeal.

The fabric section is envisioned as a straight-lined space with a minimalistic brass display and geometric parquet flooring. The simple grid with angular floating glass shelves transforms the fabric sheets into art displays in themselves, simplifying the process of browsing through them. Brass shelves and mirror ceilings further highlight the Indian craftsmanship with a delicately-wrapped serpent and brass chain-knotted joinery.

Coarse granite counters made of slab off-cuts from an Indian quarry comprise the saree section, with a 30-in. long custom-design brass light fixture bringing individuality to the saree section. Handloom shuttles enable displaying the garments on the other side, done up in a contemporary interpretation. The bridal section brings in the traditional wedding altar with low floor seating, display, and selling. A vintage 150-year-old wooden arch is installed along a wall made of salvaged roof tiles, with a set of drawers for storing sarees. Ducts and other services are exclusively designed to seamlessly blend into the aesthetics of the space,