Halcyon Complex / VSDP

Curated by ArchDaily

Architects: Vivek Shankar Design Partnership
Area: 25 m²
Year: 2007
Photographs:Pallon Daruwala

Halcyon Complex / VSDP - Facade — © Pallon Daruwala

Text description provided by the architects. The project was conceived to be an iconic customized design that engenders a critical insight to the potential of abstracted geometric compositions meant to alter the conventional notion of a façade system. The façade is composed of sandwiched aluminum panels termed as ‘Quadro Clad’ by its manufacturer Hunter Douglas. The 12.5mm thick panels resemble the fin of an aircraft or the side molding of a Formula One car.

These references are not metaphorically linked to the design intent but draw parallels in terms of highly customized components that become the underpinning of a project be it a product design, aerospace design or an architectural design owing to its dynamic geometric specificity. The radical property of the project is primarily constituted by the façade composition which renders a highly engineered juxtaposition of panels that evoke a sense of movement and mystery.

Here the façade is used more as a realization of “Branding” the building rather than just an envelope to wrap the masonry behind it. The term “Migration” could be adapted in this project as it departs from the usual perception of the façade to be a canvas of doors, windows and glazed surfaces but rather formulates a graphical sensibility with the continuous recesses and projections contained within an ordered territory of lines emanating from the lowest to the highest floor.