The Right Swatch

The Zarc Architecture & Design breaks some design myths and creates a warm and bespoke experience centre for UK’s premium paint brand, Craig & Rose, in Chennai.

Curated by: Deepa Nair
Photographs: Phosart Studio; courtesy The Zarc Architecture & Design

The brief

The Zarc Architecture & Design was invited to design the first-ever experience centre (in the south-east Asian region) for UK’s premium paint brand, Craig & Rose, in Chennai. Located in the high-end Ispahani Centre at Nungambakkam, this retail space with a corner store front had the advantage of a large double-height space with dual display windows. The brief from the client required the design team to re-energise the heritage structure of Craig & Rose into an inspirational space. They wanted to give their customers an immersive, in-store brand experience through colours. Ease of browsing was another requirement — all the paint and artisan swatches had to be detachable for effortless comparison between shades.

The design intent

The overarching theme and design mission was to create not just a paint store, but a creative space where customers feel inspired. The design team held onto the authentic classic roots of Craig & Rose — which spans for more than two centuries — and blended it with playful modern elements. Overall, the store retains a dim ambience with walls enacting a black canvas to ameliorate the colours.

The design and material details

The colossal double-height space served as the perfect canvas for an open planned display of the products making it a plethora of colours to walk through. “The parallel display system helps the client look through all the finishes simultaneously and finalise on the product choice at the central discussion table. With the display in the ground floor and the workshop space on the mezzanine floor there is a clear demarcation in the user activity,” explain Mashaal Jahanzaib and Sushmitha Shivakumar, principal architects, The Zarc Architecture & Design. “Sticking to a minimal approach, the wall panels are made from MDF boards painted in the signature chalky emulsion of the C&R 1829 range. A touch of luxury has been introduced using velour and linen upholstered furniture,” adds Anam Hayath, principal designer, The Zarc Architecture & Design.

The design highlights

The retail space breaks the perception of “dark surfaces make the space look smaller” in a visually voluminous space with the help of an intelligent lighting design. A major factor in determining the paint outcome is light; hence a lightbox that simulates different colour temperatures was employed to test the paint swatches. An important design feature for better understanding and easy comparison of the paint finishes was a rotatable pyramid which incorporated the three finishes the paints are available in: eggshell, chalky emulsion and gloss. Additionally, all the individual paint swatches were made magnetic, so they can be detached with ease to be analysed with different colour combinations and finishes.

The biggest highlight, and a flamboyant one at that is the bespoke art installation which graces the centre of the experience centre — cubes painted with all the 110 colours of the C&R 1829 Vintage collection. Each cube has been carefully placed to form an array of haphazardly placed colours that fuse together to become an artwork. The structure was designed in a form that does not obstruct the view or light from the mezzanine floor while also depicting a 360-degree viewable installation.

The challenges

“The biggest challenge was to design a store from a unique perspective — to stand out from traditional paint stores in our region — by setting our objective to hoist customer experience. Also, managing regional vendors to adhere to the European standard guidelines set out by Craig & Rose was a task,” says Mashaal. “To create a space that gives justice to all the colour shades from the 1829 palette was another challenge. And we were thrilled that all the 110 hand-held magnetic swatches were painted to perfection… proving to the client the flawlessness of the product,” asserts Sushmitha.

The takeaway

“This project turned out to be a great opportunity to educate ourselves and the end user about the detailed procedure of paint selection. In terms of the chemical composition of the paint being entirely novel to the Indian climatic conditions, we patch-tested the paints using a variety of tools on different materials. Our biggest takeaway was how to improvise on international brand identity elements to suit the regional customer experience,” explains Anam.

Fact file

Project: Craig & Rose Experience Centre
Client: Nippon Paint India
Location: Ispahani Centre, Nungambakkam, Chennai
Area: 600 sq ft
Principal architects: Mashaal Jahanzaib and Sushmitha Shivakumar
Principal designer: Anam Hayath
Lighting consultant: Mohamed Saleem (MD Design)