This adaptive reuse project transforms the Chetna Convention Centre, Old Ahmedabad, into an experiential retail space for Raw Mango. The design retains the site’s stepped floor levels and adds stepwell-inspired transitions with subtle stone inlays that reflect the city’s craft heritage.
Under the theme “SUTRA – Threads That Hold Time,” each zone becomes a sensory textile experience — glowing Chanderi warps, mirrored Mashru duality, and kinetic Kadhwa brocade. The Aangan anchors the space with a water wall and a tree held by a golden hand, symbolizing protection of craft and sustainability.
Vastra Kosh offers a mindful wardrobe-style display, while Sutra Lab enables hands-on interaction with artisans. The result is a living craft ecosystem that blends heritage, storytelling, and sustainable experiential retail.
Location
Year
Type
- Ahmedabad, India
- 2025
- Studio: Adaptive Reuse - Experience Retail Design
Overview
Concept
Spatial Reuse :
Retain exposed trusses and wood: Polish original wooden elements for display fixtures, blending heritage with retail storytelling in Desi ni Pol.
Convert chowks into interactive zones with modular partitions, fostering community events tied to experiential shopping.
Channel pol-style harvesting into retail features like sensory water elements, promoting eco-narratives for Ahmedabad's heritage
Retain exposed trusses and wood
Courtyard activation:
Rainwater integration:
Site Analysis
SITE LOCATION:
WIND STUDY OBSERVATIONS:
PUBLIC TRANSPORT & CONNECTIVITY:
CHETNA- Samvad Heritage Conference Center, Desai Ni Pol, Old City, Khadia,
Wind Direction & Ventilation — Desai Ni Pol, Ahmedabad
Prevailing Wind: Southwest–Northeast (SW–NE) during summer & monsoon.
Secondary Wind: North–South (N–S) in winter, cooler and dry.
Average Speed: 6–10 km/h.
Pol Effect: Dense fabric limits wind at street level; courtyards enable airflow.
The bus stop at Khadiya Char Rasta is only ~2 minutes walk from the site via Dhanashuthar Ni Pol.
The BRTS / bus stop at Raipur Darwaja is ~3-4 minutes walk, making public transit access quite strong.
Kalupur Railway Station, Ahmedabad Junction is 1.5 km.
(approx. 5–8 min by auto / 15 min walk)
Sabarmati Railway Station
Distance: ~8.5–9 km (approx. 25–30 min by car / auto)
DESAI NI POL
DESAI NI POL
DESAI NI POL
CHINUBHAI ROAD
HAJIRA NI POL
DESAI NI POL
HAJIRA NI POL
KAVI AKHA BHAGAT CHOWK
CHETNA SAMVAD HARITAGE HALL
WIND STUDY:
ABOUT:
ABOUT:
Chetna Heritage Samvaad Hall is a heritage conference and training center located in the heart of Ahmedabad. It is part of CHETNA (Centre for Health, Education, Training and Nutrition Awareness), an organization focused on community health, development, and education. The hall—also known as the Samvaad Heritage Conference Centre—occupies a beautifully restored heritage building, combining traditional architecture with modern amenities.
Absorb
Reflect
Journey
Plan :
Axonometric View :
7
8
9
10
11
LEGEND:
7)Vastra Kosh
Retail Space – The Wardrobe Experience
8)The Inner Fitting - Trial Rooms
9)Saanjh
10)Sutra Lab - Workshop Zone
11)Kala Sabha - Exhibit Space
1)Entrance
2)Aangan Zone
The Root of Renewal
3)Sutrakatha
Documentary Zone
4)Chanderi Zone – The Loom of Light
5)Mashru Zone – Inside the Fabric
6)Varanasi Brocade Zone -Kadhwa in Motion
12) Billing and Legacy
1
12
2
3
4
5
6
LEGEND:
Entrance
Chanderi Zone – The Loom of Light
Mashru Zone –
Inside the Fabric
Aangan Zone
The Root of Renewal
Sutrakatha
Documentary Zone
Unless noted, all dimensions are in metres (m).
Sutra Lab - Workshop Zone
Saanjh
The Inner Fitting - Trial Rooms
Vastra Kosh
Retail Space
Varanasi Brocade Zone -Kadhwa in Motion
Kala Sabha
Exhibit Space
Aangan Zone –
The Root of Renewal
A calm courtyard with a water wall and a central tree held by a golden arm, symbolizing human support to nature — reflecting Raw Mango’s role in sustaining artisan ecosystems. It is a pause space for reflection, balance, and connection between craft, community, and environment.
Motto: “Rooted in nature, sustained by human hands.”
Courtyard Activation
Traditional chowks are transformed into interactive zones using modular partitions. These flexible spaces host artisan demonstrations, community events, and cultural pop-ups — turning shopping into a shared, living craft experience.
Documentary Zone -
Sutrakatha
A quiet immersive space dedicated to the stories behind Raw Mango — its artisans, looms, processes, and philosophy.
Short documentary films loop continuously, revealing the journey of textiles from thread to heirloom.
This zone slows visitors down, allowing them to witness the unseen labor, landscapes, and lives that shape every weave — reinforcing respect for craft, time, and technique.
Chanderi Zone –
The Loom of Light
Mashru Zone –
Inside the Fabric
Varanasi Brocade Zone –
Kadhwa in Motion
This zone celebrates Chanderi’s lightness and transparency. A functioning or simulated loom forms the core, surrounded by oversized illuminated warp threads that visitors walk through, creating the feeling of entering the fabric itself. The ambient sound of the shuttle, treadles, and weaving rhythm fills the space, evoking the sensory world of a traditional Chanderi workshop.
Mashru’s dual character is expressed through a mirrored, immersive environment. Hanging weft threads descend from the ceiling, while reflective surfaces create infinite fabric-like layers. Visitors feel suspended within the textile, experiencing the play of silk and cotton textures, light, and movement as if woven into the cloth.
Inspired by Banarasi brocade and Kadhwa weaving, this zone features an interactive kinetic installation. Visitors select a brocade pattern element, triggering mechanical components to move and assemble into the chosen motif. The installation rises along stepped platforms inspired by the Varanasi ghats, symbolizing the vertical movement of both weaving and spiritual ascent.
The retail space unfolds like personal wardrobes, revealing garments slowly to encourage mindful browsing, evoking the intimacy of a quiet dressing room aligned with Raw Mango’s slow fashion ethos.
Retail Space -
VASTRA KOSH
Workshop Zone -
Sutra Lab
This zone turns observation into participation, where visitors become makers through hands-on craft workshops, reinforcing respect for process over mere consumption.
Exhibit Zone -
Kala Sabha
This space serves as Raw Mango’s living stage, where immersive campaign displays and an intimate, adaptable runway come together to narrate craft, textile, and movement as one.
Next Project
EXPERIENTIAL ZONES
DETAILS -