Category: Watson
IN SPACE WE READ
Watson´s Hotel, Esplanade Mansion, Kala Ghoda / Mumbai
in collaboration with Simon Schels
The first cast iron structure building in India (1867-1869) was pre-fabricated in England, shipped into Bombay and assembled on site. Located in the former Fort Precinct of the City, the Watson´s Hotel forms an important corner in the center of the Kala Ghoda Art District. The “whites-only” luxury hotel with its 130 rooms and the glamorous central atrium was closed in 1960. The new owner subdivided the building into individual spaces used for residences and offices. The building has a multi-tenanted and multi-user space pattern. In the absence of any common care therefore, the cast iron structure is now failing. Worn out due to years of neglect, inappropriate additions and physical modifications.
since 2010 / sketches
User, 2001:
Ground Floor: Gala Stationary Mart, Shah Ganshi Danji & Co, Ritu´s Choice, Smart & Hollywood, Air India Baggage Claim, Lucky Copy Center, Sheetal Copy Center, Champion Traders, The Relik, Simla Stationary Mart, The Army Restaurant & Stores, Royal Refrigertion Co., M/s R.K. Trading Corporation, Jaykumar D. Ved Advocate
First Floor: J.C.B Controls, N.B. Bijoor Advocate, T.M. Nad, Brij Bushan Saxena-Advocate, S.K. Dubey-Advocate, Suresh Kamat-Advocate, M. Pestonjee & Co, Ashok M. Saraogi – D.C. Shah – R.R. Verma Advocate, Indian Market Research Bureau, Probe Qualitative Research, Anshuman Exports & Imports Pvt. Ltd, Atlantic Sales & Services, National School of Banking, Om Sai Agrotech Investments Ltd, High Tech Publishing Pvt. Ltd, Utangale Nath & Co, Syrisa Travels Pvt. Ltd, Alfred Associates Importers & Exporters, M. Chandran & Co, Anandeep Orbit & Co, Pranlal D. Shah – Hind Engieneering Corporation, Gem International, N.G. Thakkar & Co, Rajputana Textiles Pvt. Ltd, The United Eastern Agencies, Reshma Ruparel Advertising, Nisha Engineering Consultant, Sanjay Enterprises, Nirman Estate Agency, Dream Merchants, …
Second Floor: Mazda Enterprises, Framroze Sorabji Augra, Jamestone Engineering Co, S. Jamshedji & Co, Cement Industries, Mahendra Shah, Deepak Enterprises, Deepak M. Thakkar – Advocates, N.S.B. Financial Services, A.S. Madon & Co, Mahendra H. Shah, J.B. Trust, Salu & Co, Kamla Builders, Rocket Sales Publicity, Shri.E.K. Thakur, Jades Shipping, Lalla Advocate
Third Floor: Tejas Bhatt Advocate, Manas Enterprises, Mrs. Achala Saxena – Avdocate, The Indian Society for Agricultural Economics, Raju More – Advocate, S. Pardawala, Federal & Rashmikant – Advocate, M/s Sharma & Associates, Raju Z. Moray – Advocate, V.C.K. Share & Stock Broking Co., Ashok Kumar & Co, Jaishree Dagli & Associates, Sudesh Kumar & Associates, Suyashree Finstock Pvt. Ltd, M/s G.R. Pandya, Mrs. Anjana Gupta Advocate, Bharucha Trust
Fourth Floor: S. Radhakrishnan, C.M. Jha. R.A. Rodrigues, Goolnaz Advertising Pvt. Ltd, N. Lmakhijani & Co, Iqbal. Mohd. Yusuf Advocate, Naaz Secretarial, Ranjana Devi Nikam Advocates
*cf.: Urban Design Research Institute / Mumbai