Home, Work, and Where Else?
The construction of Third Space by Studio Saar (all images by Eshwarya Grover).
I have come to appreciate my parents’ choice of location to build our house 15 years ago, in what seemed at the time a far-flung residential colony sandwiched between two national highways. For any Disegno readers who might turn up at my door, the view from the terrace is quite pretty – a range of continuous low hills that turn from brown to green as the rains arrive. The change in season is marked by spurts of harmless wildfires in early summer, and herds of white sheep grazing happily in late monsoon.
When we first moved to this northeastern edge of Udaipur, Rajasthan, boring essentials such as a vegetable shop and pharmacy had been preceded by landmark developments: two prominent schools, a multi-sport stadium, a craft and vocational training centre, and an indigo dyeing workshop and production house. Over the years, however, the area has attracted several commercial and residential investments, defining a new direction for the city’s growth. Owing to Udaipur’s proximity to the airport, highways linking it to nearby cities, and its small-scale factory setups, locals have found more and more reasons to live
or work here. The latest addition is Third Space, a multipurpose community centre for learning and culture, designed by Studio Saar.
Third Space is one of three under-construction buildings that I have been watching go up along National Highway 58 over the past year. Situated only two lanes away from where I live, the community centre stands out thanks to its reinforced concrete cement frame that, unlike its neighbours, has not been wrapped in walls made using aerated concrete blocks – the trendy material that has replaced traditional clay bricks in tall buildings across India. This departure from predictability has inspired much breakfast table conversation at our house, during which we have rejected the possibility of it being yet another office or apartment building.
Our curiosity was put to rest when I finally entered Third Space in July 2023 to be shown around by one of its architects: Ananya Singhal, co-founder of Studio Saar. “It is a place for people to come together and feel like they are a part of a larger community,” says Singhal, who is also the managing director at Secure Meters, his family-owned company that commissioned Third Space. “It is the third space for students and creatives to come to,” he says, “the first being your home, and second your school or workplace.” Putting a spin on the idea of the “third place”, which was coined by American sociologist Ray Oldenburg, the building aspires to align with what Oldenburg described as “the heart of a community’s social vitality, the grassroots of democracy”, in his 1989 book The Great Good Place: Cafes, Coffee Shops, Community Centers, General Stores, Bars, Hangouts and How They Get You Through the Day.
Ananya Singhal of Studio Saar.
In the last decade, cafés and restro-bars of all shapes and sizes have cropped up across Udaipur: on the rooftops of buildings that offer magical views over the city’s lakes; in old havelis that still have the nostalgic charm of lime-plastered walls and stone ceilings; and, more recently, in speedily erected steel-and-glass sheds with glossy interiors. These are the third spaces that Udaipur currently offers – places where people meet to discuss ideas, talk shop, make introductions, plan events. But currently all of these require some kind of financial outlay to occupy space. Thinking back, all the documentary screenings or talks that I’ve attended in the past six months borrowed a commercial venue in the hope of attracting a young, art-minded audience. In this context, Third Space could fill a void and slowly develop into a vibrant community centre, one that is consciously designed around people creating instead of consuming.
Udaipur has more than 600,000 permanent residents and more than 1 million annual visitors. Its economy is largely dependent on tourism, closely supported by manufacturing and the processing industries of marble, minerals and chemicals, as well as handicraft products. In this historical city, whose urban fabric includes several major lakes, a royal palace, and rolling hills, it is fairly common to find imitations of ornamental elements from older structures adorning new hotels and homes, built out of the popular and readily accessible combination of brick, concrete and steel. However, Third Space goes several steps further than the standard construction quality and architectural style of recent additions to the cityscape, combining tradition and technology in ways that are climate-sensitive, and illustrate sustainable application of locally available materials and construction techniques.
Udaipur has increasingly been subjected to havoc caused by off-season rains and intense winds coming in from the western coast, most recently cyclone Biparjoy in June 2023. Global heating is disrupting monsoon patterns – warmer air holds more moisture, creating dry periods followed by extreme downpours. While the city is not presently challenged by extreme waterlogging or flooding, thanks to its efficient network of inter-connected lakes, erratic monsoons and powerful storms have led to the disruption of farming cycles in the surrounding areas. In addition to an increased vulnerability to the changing climate, a spike in the city’s population has created an urgent need for architects and urban planners to rethink their approach towards balancing ecology with density. In this context, Third Space serves as a timely precedent for the city, responding to these shifts by taking a closer look at locally available resources and not simply going about business as usual. While the scale of Third Space may appear superfluous to some, it is worth reflecting that this multifunctional facility will be used by the people of Udaipur who currently do not have anything close to a community centre. Its 170,000 sqft plan is designed to welcome around 1,000 to 1,500 people per day.
Although Third Space broke ground in January 2021 and has progressed steadily ever since, it is not surprising that my parents and I were initially uncertain as to what it was. The building only acquired the distinct air of a cultural centre in July 2023, when prefabricated, perforated screen panels appeared on all sides of the facade. Hoisted up on a metal support system, these panels resemble a prominent feature of heritage architecture in the region – handcrafted stone jaalis that act as a veil between the street and the house. Jaalis serve the dual purpose of ensuring privacy and compressing the hot air that passes through their tiny carved openings, naturally cooling it in the process. “Feel that breeze?” enquires Singhal as we pause for a moment on the second-floor corridor to experience the subtle effects of this simple, indigenous mechanism applied to a 21st-century building. Viewed from the exterior, these panels line up to create horizontal bands alternating between pristine white laser-cut metal and greyish- white waterjet-cut marble. “Oh, and the marble off-cuts were used as chips in the flooring,” he adds.
“It is a place for people to come together and feel like they are a part of a larger community.”
There is something thrilling about touring a building that is only weeks away from launch, even more so when the floors haven’t been swept clean and welding sparks are flying about as handrails are ground smooth. As an architect myself, I instantly tuned in to the excited fervour at Third Space as multiple agencies worked simultaneously to meet their deadlines. After walking across all its floors, basement and terrace included, we made our way into the makers’ workshop at ground level to find some quiet and admire the framed view of green fields abutting the plot’s boundary.
“There is not just one problem that we are trying to solve here,” begins Singhal, putting away his can of Diet Coke and propping himself up on a high stool. “The climate crisis in this country cannot be addressed in isolation. There are also health, literacy and socio- economic issues entangled in it.” He gestures at the exposed concrete columns, cast with a mixture that replaced half the cement with marble dust. With Rajasthan being one of the largest exporters of marble in India, the dust was a waste product, acquired for free from nearby workshops. The new mixture proved to have greater compressive strength than standard concrete when tested in a laboratory – a significant finding that owes a debt to the freedom to experiment afforded by the unique client-architect relationship
in the Third Space project. “Can we stop making buildings here with steel and concrete? No,” Singhal tells me. “Can we make more informed choices? Yes.”
The centre echoes the layout of the havelis in Rajasthan, townhouses that typically have rooms arranged around a top-lit courtyard to allow hot air to rise, escape, and be replaced with cooler air (a passive cooling technique explained by the Venturi effect). The building’s perforated marble-and-metal skin envelops a series of internal volumes, all of which are made distinct through changes in proportions, the quality of light they receive, and, most clearly, their programme.
Third Space will be a learning and creative hub run by Dharohar, the not-for-profit arm of Secure Meters, which has been conducting a series of outreach programmes in public schools in and around Udaipur for more than two decades. The space’s complex programmatic mix, partly informed by Dharohar’s previous education-related initiatives, includes an amphitheatre covered in white mosaic for open performances (which also serves as the main entrance plaza), a locally operated cafeteria, a store, exhibition spaces, workshops, activity areas, conference rooms, a single-screen theatre and library. “There is a lot happening here so that everyone in town can find something to relate to,” says Jonny Buckland, Studio Saar’s other co-founder, who spent six months in Udaipur in 2017 for the initial design conceptualisation of Third Space. My personal favourite might be the semi-open reading space next to the library on the top floor that overlooks the amphitheatre. The amphitheatre itself has a stepped surface that takes its cues from ancient stepwells – the subterranean water-storage tanks with corridors of steps leading down to the water – which are found across western India. At roof level, the landscaped terrace of the building has dedicated play areas for children and a large expanse of flexible open space shaded by a lightweight canopy structure.
The stepped floor of the amphitheatre.
The steel-and-bamboo canopy, yet to be erected when I visited, will be installed in October, post- monsoon. Currently in its place is a temporary roof made of tensile fabric and steel cables, which was one of the initial iterations of the canopy’s design. Stretching over the open-to-sky, central courtyard of the building as a precaution against heavy rains, this will be folded away and brought out during special occasions, such as the private launch party hosted two weeks after my first visit to Third Space. As a long-term and low-carbon solution, the architects arrived at a canopy system that is designed for continuous repair to cope with the cyclones that Udaipur has been experiencing in recent years. “The ratio between covered and open spaces in the building is roughly half and half,” says Buckland. “This [steel-and- bamboo version] was thought to be one of the best ways to convert a large area on the terrace into a usable space that is aesthetically pleasing and protected against unpredictable weather.”
The design employed skilled craftspeople in the city who made mats out of cross-woven bamboo strips that will weather over time and biodegrade once they finish their useful life. Using lightweight bamboo mats as the canopy’s infill has dramatically reduced the amount of steel required to build its support structure, and simplified the installation process onsite. Studio Saar brought in London-based Webb Yates Engineers to design the structural system for the canopy, which was virtually tested through computer simulations for its ability to withstand external pressures. Spanning 24m, the 1m-deep steel truss is to be fixed on reinforced concrete cement beams to allow for a column-free space below. Each of its 2x2m internal divisions will have the bamboo mats clipped at four top and bottom points to form a twisting shape.
A weaver working on Third Space’s bamboo canopy.
“We’re not used to designing systems for failure,” says Singhal as we stride across the uncovered terrace. “But by creating a weaker link between the bamboo mats and the steel supports, we have ensured that those junctions fail first while the rest of the canopy stays intact.” The system is designed to “fail safely”, meaning that if damaged or ripped loose by strong wind or heavy rain, the bamboo mats won’t pose a threat to people and property. Once the winds die down, they can be clipped back, repaired, or remade by local weavers who have been practising the craft for generations. Not only was this found to be more cost-effective than using off-the-shelf replacements, it also best demonstrates the fusion of the old and new (both materials and knowledge) that the centre hopes to promote through exhibitions and activity- based workshops.
“I reckon the urban applicability of a lightweight, shading structure like this can play a part in countering the increasing heat-island effect in our cities,” says Buckland as we catch a few moments of conversation in one of the protruding bay seats, or gokhras, an hour before the launch party. Meant for friends and relatives connected with the Singhal family, as well as the staff at Secure Meters and Dharohar associated with the project, the event was held to introduce Third Space and also celebrate its near-completion. “There is an opportunity to create more usable space for people within existing buildings with such flexible, adaptable canopy systems – much like what I’ve observed in Udaipur, especially in the older, denser parts of the city,” continues Buckland, as a gentle drizzle slants across the terrace.
“Can we stop making buildings here with steel and concrete? No. Can we make more informed decisions? Yes.”
The centre is set to open to the public in October 2023, when most facilities are being made available to all for an annual membership charge of ₹3000 (£29) – a nominal fee for the working population in Udaipur against what is being offered by the space. While
the entrance plaza and amphitheatre remain freely accessible to all non-members, the entire building will be largely reserved for schoolchildren free-of-cost on weekday mornings. “I am both excited and nervous to present Third Space to all of you today,” announced Dharohar’s head, Shivani Singhal, at the launch, which was followed by a series of talks and the opening of a photography exhibition documenting the making of the building. “Nervous because, well, look at the scale of this project that we undertook as a team and as a family ... [and] excited to see what this place becomes over the years.”
In many ways, Third Space has already built a strong local community comprising workers, craftspeople, designers and coordinators who have worked on the project for a solid seven years. What remains to be seen is how the centre evolves with the people it will host and vice versa. “Udaipur is the kind of place where you would always work or socialise with someone you already know through friends or family – perhaps your grandparents knew theirs,” says Aditi Babel, a Udaipur-based artist who is also a close friend of Singhal. “The society’s quite closely knit.” Babel was commissioned to supply a limited stock of handcrafted books that she makes with local artisans for the store at Third Space. “In that sense, I hope that the centre provides the chance to connect with like- minded people who get to know you independently, as an individual or professional,” she says. “This town could really benefit from a place that allows for that kind of honest exchange.”
Words Rupal Rathore
Photographs Eshwarya Grover
Studio Saar covered the photographer’s travel and accommodation to document the building.
This article was originally published in Disegno #36. To buy the issue, or subscribe to the journal, please visit the online shop.