Bangalore Club Main Lawn Renovation

We were recently honored to win an invited competition to reimagine the main lawn of Bangalore Club, a historic institution with roots in the city’s colonial past. Established in 1868 as the Bangalore Services Club for British officers, the club was renamed in 1946 and opened to civilians and Indians in 1947. Today, it spans 11 acres with colonial-era buildings, century-old trees, and a membership of 6,600.

Our task was to masterplan and rejuvenate the club’s 1-acre main lawn, a key space for dining and entertainment. Over the past 22 years, the lawn had been neglected, with random incongruous additions detracting from its beauty. The brief required ample covered dining areas, a new kitchen block, and a redesigned ‘Umbrella Bar’ as the club’s social hub.

We studied the existing heritage buildings to ensure our additions would blend seamlessly with the environment. The main lawn had suffered from overuse and temporary event structures that damaged the grass. To address this, we designed a cohesive L – shaped covered collonade, providing ground-level and mezzanine seating overlooking the main lawn. We opted for a subtle expression that allows the 100-year old buildings to remain the focal point. We were careful to separate our additions from the Heritage buildings with an inconspicuous skylight , to bring in natural light while refraining form damaging the old buildings in any way. We used heritage tiles, a timber-clad slatted roof, and local Sadharhalli stone for the columns and their capitals.

On the northern side, we introduced a new Umbrella Bar beneath a giant rain tree, replacing the old structure compromised by the tree’s roots. The new circular bar, with a 50-foot diameter, features a central column with radial trusses supporting a roof that cantilevers 25 feet in all directions, offering a 360-degree canopy. The bar includes seating around its central stem and standing tables along the periphery, all sheltered from the sun and rain.

On the eastern side, we created a stage visible from the colonnade, mezzanine, and umbrella bar, with green rooms and restrooms placed strategically behind it to support performances.

This project is especially significant given the rapid disappearance of Bangalore’s colonial heritage owing to a lack of a heritage act. Our interventions were designed to be gentle, highlighting and celebrating the heritage buildings with fulfilling the program’s functional needs.